


secrets that you keep

by beautifulbane



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Battle Couple, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, alec doesn't know magnus is a warlock, downworlders and shadowhunters still exist but they don't mingle, magnus catarina raphael and ragnor are in a groupchat, magnus doesn't know alec is a shadowhunter, not at all, this entire fic is them Almost finding it out but then Not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-02 20:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 49,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10226507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifulbane/pseuds/beautifulbane
Summary: Alec Lightwood wasn't used to doing things for himself. He had grown up looking after his siblings and learning how to be the perfect Shadowhunter: never had he considered even the idea of falling in love.For over a century, Magnus Bane had closed himself off to feeling anything for man or woman. After a particularly nasty break up, he worried that opening his heart up again would result in nothing but another heartbreak.When the two of them meet at a mundane coffee shop, it's a rush of feelings that Alec has never felt before, and that Magnus had thought he would never feel again.The only problem? Both think the other is a mundane, and for centuries, Downworlders and Shadowhunters have been forbidden from falling in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo! I've been writing this fic for a couple of months now, and I've had the idea for even longer. It's going to be two parts and currently the second part is at 9k. It probably won't be as long as this first part, so hopefully it'll be posted fairly soon. 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it! 
> 
> Also I saw this post after writing some of this fic and thought it was fitting: http://barryqueen.tumblr.com/post/144486031078/alec-and-magus-meet-at-a-mundane-cafe-running

Alec was not having the best of days.

Izzy and Jace had all but begged him to stop for coffee before their important clave meeting that morning, so Alec had decided on going to a coffee shop just a few blocks away from the Institute. He was certain that he had given himself plenty of time before the meeting started, and yet by the time he had gotten to the shop, there were only twenty minutes left until he had to be back to the Institute.

He ordered himself a regular black coffee and then stumbled over the fancy coffees that Izzy and Jace had told him to order for themselves.

His siblings really would be the death of him.

Once his coffees were ready, Alec placed them in a holder and then made his way to the door. He looked down at his watch, trying to see how much time he had until his meeting, when all of a sudden he felt himself bumping into a solid chest.

He only barely managed to prevent all of his coffees from falling out of their carrier and onto the floor.

"Jeez, could you—" The person he had bumped into had probably been about to tell him off, but when Alec looked over at him, he stopped talking. "Oh."

"Oh" summed up Alec's own thoughts perfectly. The man in front of him was gorgeous, with his hair perfectly styled, a bit of makeup on his face, and his eyes a beautiful brown. Alec felt his cheeks grow warm and he took a step backwards, suddenly uncomfortably aware of how close they still were.

"I am so sorry, I'm kind of in a rush and I wasn't watching where I was going—"

"No, no, it's fine, I'm just — happy that your coffee didn't spill, I would have felt awful."

"Oh, no, it wouldn't have been your fault, it definitely would have been mine—"

"Well maybe if I hadn't been so focused on my damn phone—"

That went on for maybe about five more minutes, both of them just steady apologizing and placing the blame on themselves. Alec laughed at the absurdity of it and placed his hand out for the stranger to shake.

"I'm Alec," he said, smiling brightly when the other man took his hand.

"Magnus. It's nice to meet you, even though I almost spilled your coffee."

Alec let out a quiet laugh. He then realized that he had wasted even more time just standing here talking to Magnus, which made his smile turn into a wince.

"I'm sorry, I really am in a rush. I have a meeting for work," Alec apologized.

"No, yeah, I actually have a meeting of my own to be getting to. I'm afraid I've been procrastinating because I'd much rather be here than there."

Alec laughed at Magnus' confession. He then quickly added, before Magnus could walk away, "I'd like to see you again, though."

Magnus' eyes widened in surprise, but he also looked pleased. "I'll be here tomorrow around noon."

Alec nodded quickly. "Sounds great. I'll see you then."

Magnus smiled once more at him before making his way over to the counter to place his order. Alec spared him one more glance before mentally telling himself he really needed to get going, and walking back to the Institute.

***

Magnus liked to think of himself as fashionably late when he arrived to the important Downworlder breakfast he was attending. He walked into the Hotel Dumort (each meeting tended to be at a different Downworlder spot, such as Magnus' own loft or Luke's Jade Wolf. Why they had decided on having a breakfast at the Hotel Dumort, where there was no food, was besides Magnus.) with two coffees in hand and a smile on his face.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he greeted cheerily. He placed one of the coffees in front of Luke, who gave him a grateful smile, and then took his seat next to Catarina.

"You're late," Raphael said, unimpressed.

Magnus shrugged. "I'm here now, aren't I? That's all that's important."

Raphael's eye roll actually looked painful. While Luke called the meeting to order, Magnus took the chance to check out who was in attendance. To Luke's right was a young werewolf girl, Maia, looking equal amounts peeved and tired. For the vampires, Raphael and Simon sat next to each other.

The Seelies, as always, were represented by Meliorn and Kaelie.

Magnus himself had invited one of his best friends, Catarina, to join him for this meeting on behalf of the warlocks. He looked over at her to give her a smile but she was already rolling her brown eyes.

"What?!" Magnus whispered indignantly.

"You have that look on your face. The 'I just met a cute boy' look."

Magnus purposely took a sip from his coffee. "I don't meet cute boys and tell."

"That's the biggest lie you've ever told."

Magnus knew he wouldn't be able to lie to Catarina, she knew him too well, so he whispered to her, "His name is Alec. He's really tall, brown hair and hazel eyes. The nicest smile. We're meeting tomorrow for coffee."

"Is he a mundane?" Catarina asked.

Magnus bit his lip and nodded. It wasn't against the rules to date a mundane (not like it was to date Shadowhunters), but it was still rare for Downworlders to do so. This was mostly because of how difficult it was explaining that warlocks and vampires exist in the real world.

"I'm happy for you," Catarina told him.

Magnus smiled at her. "Thank you. I mean, we just met, but. He's cute. I feel like I could really like him."

Magnus then decided it would probably be a good idea to actually focus on the meeting taking place. He diverted his attention to Maia, who was talking about a Shadowhunter who had gone to her bar, the Hunter's Moon. This was a place that was strictly for Downworlders, and Shadowhunters were prohibited from attending.

"What'd he look like?" Luke asked her.

"Blonde hair, stupid, smug smirk. He acted like he owned the place, even though he was the only Shadowhunter there."

"That's a Shadowhunter for you," Meliorn murmured under his breath.

"But, anyway, my point is I need to know what to do if he has the nerve to come back to my bar. Last time I gave him a verbal warning, threatened him a bit, and he left. I don't think I should be so friendly next time."

Raphael shrugged. "I think you did the right thing. I wouldn't have been so friendly if a Shadowhunter showed their face here at my hotel."

Meliorn hummed his approval, but Simon gave Raphael a disapproving look, shaking his head all the while. "Violence clearly wasn't the answer to the situation, and I don't think it is if there's a next time, either. I mean, why _is_  the Hunter's Moon only for Downworlders? Has it always been like that?"

Simon had only been turned two months ago. It showed in the way he optimistically (naively, in some of the Downworlder's minds) hoped for Downworlders and Shadowhunters to miraculously solve all of their differences and stop being segregated.

Maia narrowed her eyes at Simon. "As long as the Institutes all over the world and Idris are closed off to Downworlders, our clubs and homes are closed off to Shadowhunters, as well."

Simon pursed his lips and looked down at the table in front of him with a defeated expression.

"I just feel like if we start hurting Shadowhunters, then we're no better than them," he relinquished quietly.

Magnus spared a glance over at Luke to see what he thought of all of this. Technically, as alpha of the New York pack, he had final say in what would happen if the Shadowhunter showed up again at the Hunter's Moon.

"Maia, you did the right thing in not hurting the Shadowhunter," Luke said, finally speaking up, "It's against the Accords and would have gotten you in a lot of unnecessary trouble. If this Shadowhunter keeps giving you problems, come to me and I'll deal with him. Got it?"

Maia waited a minute before nodding.

Simon didn't say anything else.

"Okay," Luke said, taking a sip from his coffee, "Onto the next issue."

***

Alec tried to slide into the seat between his two siblings as discreetly as he could, but he was fairly certain he failed. He was only five minutes late, but time was everything to the Clave.

"Where the hell were you?" Izzy whispered, taking her coffee from him.

Alec handed Jace's to him as well. "Getting the both of you your stupid coffees. You're welcome, by the way."

Izzy gave him a teasing grin. "Gracias, mi hermano. I have no idea what I would do without you."

"That's better," Alec said.

"But seriously, bro, you're never late. Where were you?" Jace asked him.

Alec noticed the concern in his voice and realized he should probably tell his siblings the truth.

"I...met someone. At the coffee shop."

Izzy's mouth practically dropped open. "You did what?! _You_? You never meet anyone!"

"Is he a Shadowhunter? Do I know him?" Jace asked.

"He's...not a Shadowhunter," Alec said as quietly as he could. He didn't want anyone overhearing.

Jace and Izzy's mouths both turned into perfect o's.

"Please, Alec, tell me he's not a Downworlder," Izzy whispered.

Alec shook his head, quickly erasing that thought from both of their minds. "No, of course not! I wouldn't do that to us, to our family. He's...a mundane."

"Well, he could always Ascend," Izzy said lightly.

"I — I don't even want to think about that. I just met the guy. I'm not saying I want to marry him or anything."

Izzy shook her head. "I know that. And Jace knows that. Don't you, Jace?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm happy for you, man. If anyone deserves to meet someone, it's you."

"Isn't that the truth," Izzy agreed, "Especially considering you've been so frickin repressed all your life."

Alec rolled his eyes and gave Izzy's arm a light smack. "Okay, enough about my love life. Back to the meeting, you two."

Jace and Izzy shared matching eye rolls, but they still listened to him and diverted their attention back to the meeting, Alec doing the same.

***

Meeting Magnus again seemed a lot better in theory than in actuality. It wasn't that Alec didn't want to see him again, he absolutely did, but there were so many things that he was worried about. What did one wear to a coffee date? What if once he and Magnus started talking, Magnus realized he didn't really like Alec at all? And what would they even talk about?

He eventually decided on wearing one of his better sweaters and a nice pair of jeans. Thankfully it was winter in New York, so Alec could get away with wrapping a scarf around his neck to hide his stamina rune. That was a conversation Alec most definitely wasn't ready to have yet.

Overall, Alec was nervous because he hadn't ever done this before. Not really, anyway. He'd had a sort-of boyfriend when he was seventeen, but that had lasted all of two weeks before his mom had caught them kissing and "unrelatedly" transferred him and his family to the Dubai Institute.

But, Alec told himself, this would be different. First of all, his mom wouldn't ever have to find out about Magnus, unless they started really getting serious. And, secondly, this was only a first date. There was no need to get worried about the future if they might not even make it that far.

With that thought in mind, Alec shrugged his coat on and walked out of the Institute's doors.

***

Magnus was only a little bit panicked.

It was 12:05 and Alec had yet to show. Magnus didn't think that Alec seemed the type to stand someone up, but he still got out his phone and texted his groupchat (which consisted of himself, Catarina, Ragnor, and Raphael, his immortal besties).

"Alec was supposed to be here at 12:00 and it's 12:05 and he's still not here, should I be worried?" He sent.

Ragnor, like a good friend, responded almost immediately. "I'm sure he'll be there soon."

Unfortunately, that didn't ease Magnus' mind very much. He tore a piece off of his mandarin and poppy seed bagel and chewed anxiously on it.

His phone pinged again, and Magnus looked down to see that it was Raphael.

"You know I didn't join this chat to hear about your boy problems, Magnus," the text said.

Magnus smirked. "Raphael, darling, I'm sensing some jealousy. It's unbecoming of you," he sent back.

It couldn't have been more than a second before Magnus' phone alerted him that Raphael had left the groupchat. Magnus rolled his eyes with a smile. If there was one thing about Raphael that never changed, it was how big of a drama queen he was.

"I'll text him," Catarina said, and Magnus figured that was probably the end of that conversation.

He looked up from his phone to see if Alec had arrived yet and actually gaped when he saw the man in question standing right across from him, looking sheepish and a little bit awkward.

"Sorry, I — I didn't want to interrupt, if you were having a conversation."

Magnus silently wondered how this mundane had been able to sneak up on him, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but he shook the thought off. He must have just been really consumed in his phone.

"No, it's fine, I was only texting some friends. Please, sit down," Magnus said, gesturing to the seat in front of him.

Alec smiled and sat down in the seat, shrugging his coat off. He was wearing a form-fitting sweater underneath it that had Magnus biting his lip.

"Sorry for being a bit late. I, um, I kind of had to work up the nerve to actually come," Alec admitted, his eyes meeting Magnus'.

The confession made Magnus raise an eyebrow. "Really? How come?" He inquired.

"Um, I've never really...done this before. The whole dating thing, you know?"

Magnus must have looked surprised, because Alec let out a small laugh.

"Do you not believe me?" He asked amusedly.

Magnus shook his head quickly. "No, no, I do, it's just. You're really cute. That's why I have trouble believing you've never dated before."

Alec's cheeks turned a light pink. "My job can be really strict sometimes. It's been hard to find the time for relationships."

Yeah, Magnus could definitely understand that. Being the High Warlock of Brooklyn wasn't exactly the easiest occupation, but he wasn't about to tell Alec that.

"Well, I'm glad you came," Magnus said, giving Alec his best smile.

"Why's that?" Alec asked, and Magnus was once again surprised that Alec didn't seem to be mocking, just genuinely curious.

"Because my self-esteem would have been ruined if a boy as cute as you stood me up, obviously," Magnus said jokingly, taking pride in the bashful smile it placed on Alec's face.

"Do you want to get a drink?" Alec asked, gesturing to the counter. "I, uh, heard it's not a date until drinks are bought. At least that's what my sister told me."

Magnus chuckled and stood up, Alec doing the same. "I'd love to get one," he said, and the two of them walked over to wait in line together.

***

Alec wasn't sure why he had been so nervous about meeting Magnus for their date. After the initial awkwardness, conversation had flowed easily between the two of them. Magnus had asked about Alec's sister once they had taken their seats and Alec had told him all about Izzy, a smile on his face all the while.

"And do you have any other siblings?" Magnus had asked.

Alec had nodded. "Two brothers. One's a year younger than me and the other's only twelve."

It would have been impossible to miss the wistful look in Magnus' eyes as he smiled.

"I've always admired the bond between siblings," he'd said, "I was an only child, unfortunately."

They had then shared stories, Alec's of his siblings and Magnus' of his friends. Alec found one in particular amusing; the one where Magnus and some friends apparently were banned from Peru.

"You have to know that's kind of hard to believe," Alec said, still laughing at the ridiculous story.

Magnus seemed nonplussed. "Believe it or not," he said with a shrug, "It's all one hundred percent true."

Alec reached out for his coffee cup. It was long cold by now, but he didn't want Magnus to see how widely he was smiling.

"So, you like to travel, then?" Alec asked.

"I love it. More than anything, really."

Alec nodded, his mind swirling with all the places he had wanted to visit in his life but never had the chance to. He wanted to ask Magnus of all the places he had been, of all the memories he had made while there, but he knew there was too much to say. Magnus made it sound like he had years of traveling under his belt.

So, instead, Alec decided on telling him the one place he had always wanted to go more than any other place. He had dreamt about it since he was ten, but his parents had always been too busy with Shadowhunting business.

"I've wanted to visit the original Globe Theatre since, well, it seems like forever."

Magnus' eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, I've been there a couple of times. It's a lovely theatre. I actually lived in London for a couple of years."

Alec unintentionally scooted closer to the edge of his seat. He couldn't help being fascinated. London had always been his number one place to visit, and to hear that Magnus had _lived_  there?

"What was it like? The theatre? But, uh. Also the city. I've wanted to go so badly."

Magnus told him every memory he had of both the theatre and the city, and Alec held onto every word, happy just to listen to Magnus talk.

They stayed in the cafe until the employees started giving them dirty looks, undoubtedly because they had been occupying the same two seats for what had to be hours now.

It was Alec who hesitantly said he should probably be getting home, or his siblings would start to worry about him. Magnus agreed, and the two of them walked out of the cafe, not missing the grateful looks the employees sent their way.

Once they were outside, Alec started to panic a little. He hadn't ever done this before. Was he supposed to ask Magnus for his number? Or did Magnus ask him for his?

Luckily, Magnus quickly spoke up. "I'd like to see you again. This was...really nice."

Alec hoped his smile wasn't overly enthusiastic, but he was just...really happy. He knew it had to be showing on his face.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you again, too. I could, uh, give you my number? If you want?"

Magnus took a step closer to Alec, taking his hand in his so he could place his phone in Alec's hands. "I'd absolutely want," he told him quietly.

Alec felt his cheeks grow warm. Their closeness and Magnus' words seemed a little too intimate for the public setting, but he still somehow managed to put his number in Magnus' phone.

Magnus took his phone back from Alec once he was done, and gave him a flirty smile. "I'll be seeing you, Alec."

"Yeah, I'll — I'll see you," Alec stammered, mentally slapping himself for his awkwardness. Magnus gave him a wave and then turned away.

Alec told himself to stop staring and crossed the street on his way to the Institute, his heart still in his throat from how amazing the date had been.

He hoped Magnus would text him soon.

***

"How long does it usually take for someone to text after a date?"

Izzy looked up at her brother, who was standing in the doorframe of her bedroom. She took in the anxious way he was staring at his phone and felt herself brighten up.

"Oh, you like him! Alec, you _have_ to tell me about your date and all about him," she squealed.

Alec looked away from his phone for the first time and then at Izzy. His cheeks flushed at the thought of talking to his little sister about boys, of all things, but this _was_  about Magnus, and that thought was kind of appealing.

With a huff, he walked across the room and sat next to her.

"You never answered my question. How long does it usually take?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "A day, sometimes two. Never more than two, though."

Alec nodded his head. That was relieving. Technically it had been less than twenty-four hours, so he figured he was probably still good.

"Okay, now answer mine. How did it go?! You were gone for, like, _two hours_ and you told me you were just going to a coffee shop, so like. Did you talk the whole time? Did you kiss?"

Alec was starting to get a slight headache. This had probably been a bad idea, but Izzy was looking at him with bright, excited eyes, and he couldn't just walk away without answering her questions. This was the first time he had ever really dated anyone, and he knew his sister was just happy at the thought of her big brother being happy.

"Yeah, we — we just talked. He's really nice, and funny, and...he loves to travel, which. I thought was interesting, because you know I've always wanted to travel but never got the chance."

Izzy smiled, a mischievous hint to it. "As for the kiss?"

"Didn't happen," Alec said, playfully nudging his sister with his elbow when she pouted at him. "I don't kiss on the first date, Iz!"

"Right, because you have so much experience," she teased.

Alec rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He stood up from Izzy's bed and made to leave, but before he could, he turned around to say one last thing to his sister.

"Thank you. For answering my question."

"No problem. Just make sure to tell me when your _novio_ texts you back!"

Alec figured that was his cue to leave. He walked out of the door, calling out, "He's not my boyfriend!" behind him.

***

When Magnus invited Ragnor over to his loft, it was partially because he wanted to catch up with his friend, but also partially because he wanted to talk to him about Alec. Ragnor was one of his oldest friend; the one who Magnus always went to when he met someone new.

Magnus handed Ragnor his drink and started pouring a whiskey for himself.

"I was surprised to hear from you," Ragnor said, "We haven't done this in awhile."

Magnus turned around to face his friend, giving him an apologetic look. "I know. It seems like there's always a problem in the Downworld, _usually_ ones involving Shadowhunters."

He sat down next to Ragnor as he pulled a face. "If Shadowhunters could ever mind their own business, I think the world would spontaneously combust," Ragnor said.

Magnus snorted. "Well, we don't have to worry about that, because I'm sure it'll never happen." He then gave Ragnor a small, excited smile. "This is completely unrelated, but my date went really well."

"Oh, yeah? I was surprised you hadn't said anything yet. I could tell you were struggling with yourself not to bring him up."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "He's so cute, Ragnor. He hasn't dated much before because of how demanding his job is, so it's all new to him and...it's kind of new to me, as well? I haven't felt like this in a long time."

Ragnor smiled at him. This time, there was no teasing in his expression, just genuine happiness. "I haven't seen you like this in almost a century, my friend. I was worried you had closed your heart off for good."

"I thought I might have," Magnus admitted with a small, sad smile, "After, you know, _Camille_."

Ragnor blanched at just the name. "You're immortal, Magnus, and yet it was as if she killed you."

Magnus was quiet for a second, silently reflecting on all the pain that Camille had caused him. He hadn't known how to move on from her, wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to, but Alec had changed that. He'd unlocked something inside of Magnus that he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"That's not going to be the case any longer. I'm going to start living again."

Ragnor smiled at him from the rim of his glass. "I'm happy for you," he told him, his voice nothing but sincere. "Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't been texting him all evening."

Magnus' face lit up in recognition. "Oh, that reminds me! I haven't texted him since the date. I hope he hasn't been worried." Still, the thought of Alec worrying about Magnus not texting him back brought a small smile to his face. It was an endearing one.

He hurriedly sent out a text, saying, "Hey, it's Magnus. Sorry for just now texting you. How has your day been?"

Alec texted him back only about ten minutes later. "It was okay, better now. How was yours?"

Magnus felt his heart flutter and he all but shoved his phone in Magnus' face. "Look, he said his day's better now that I've texted him, isn't he cute?!"

Ragnor laughed heartily at him, moving Magnus' arm so his phone wasn't staring him in the face. "Oh, you've got it _bad_."

"Shut up. No I don't," Magnus said, though he couldn't help feeling that the wide smile on his face as he texted Alec back betrayed his words.

***

"You're _still_ looking at that phone of yours?"

Alec quickly locked his phone and looked up to see who had spoken to him: Jace. He tried to convey his nonchalance as he shrugged.

"I was just...checking the weather. Clearly," Alec said.

"And that smile on your face is because you're so glad it's sunny outside?" Jace asked.

Alec gave him an unimpressed look.

"Bro, it's totally fine if you're talking to Magnus. I've never really...seen you like this before, if that makes sense."

"It's all really new," Alec admitted quietly. He gave his brother a quick glance before letting out a sigh. "He asked me out on another date for tomorrow night."

Jace sat down in the seat next to his brother, a curious expression on his face. "That's supposed to be a good thing, isn't it? And yet you don't look like you're too excited."

"I am! I am. We texted for hours last night and we've been texting for most of the day, as well. I'm just...I've never done this before. What if I mess everything up, Jace? What if he can't handle the unexpectedness that comes from being a Shadowhunter or, god, he doesn't even know what a Shadowhunter _is_ , does he? How do I explain that?"

Jace's eyes were wide as he reached out to give Alec's hand a squeeze. "Alec, I can assure you, it's way too early to be worrying about these kinds of things. You're not going to mess anything up between you. And, yeah, you like him now, but that doesn't mean you will forever. The Shadowhunter talk might never have to come up."

Alec pursed his lips. "Have you ever had that talk before? With a mundane you've dated?"

"I've never dated a mundane," Jace confessed apologetically.

"What?!" Alec exclaimed.

"I, um, I only date Shadowhunters," Jace said with a noncommittal shrug.

Alec put his head in his hands. "I have to call off the date."

" _No_ , you do not. You are going on your date with Magnus and it's going to be great, I promise you."

"A date? Oh, did Magnus invite you on another date? That's so exciting! Where to?"

That would be Izzy. Alec buried his head further into his arms and groaned loudly (for emphasis, of course).

"It's called the River Cafe and I guess it's in Brooklyn," Alec said, his voice muffled from his arms. He looked up to see if the name sparked any recognition in his siblings. To his surprise, both of their mouths were gaped. "What? You've heard of it?"

"Alec, that place is _nice_. Like, one of the best places in Brooklyn," Jace said.

Alec raised both of his eyebrows. "Really? What — what do I wear?"

Izzy smiled widely at him. "I'm glad you asked. I'm sure I could help you find something."

***

Magnus' reservations were for seven-thirty at the restaurant he was meeting Alec at. It was seven-fifteen right now, and he was still at his loft. This was because he knew it would only take a second to portal himself to the restaurant, and he wanted to make sure he looked absolutely perfect before he left.

His eyes raked over his outfit in the full body length mirror in front of him. He was wearing black leather shoes, tight black pants, and one of his favorite shirts tucked into them with a thin, glittery silver belt. His shirt was a royal blue with lighter and darker shades of blue in the design. It wasn't quite checkered, but it was similar. Around his neck he wore a couple of silver necklaces to go with his belt and on his fingers were multiple different black rings, some clunky, some thin bands.

Magnus then took a step closer to his mirror, examining his makeup carefully. He had gone light this time around; just some black eyeliner and eyeshadow. He already knew his hair was styled perfectly, seeing as how he had spent nearly an hour on styling it alone.

He took a picture of his full outfit and sent it to his groupchat before flicking his fingers to create a portal to outside of the restaurant.

Once he arrived to the outside of the River Cafe, he checked his phone again to see what his friends had responded with. It was mostly a bunch of heart eyes and fire emojis, except for Raphael, who had sent him the rolling-eyes emoji and a question of where Magnus was "even taking the mundane", to quote Raphael.

Magnus rolled his own eyes, sent a quick text to Raphael telling him the name of the restaurant, and then stuffed his phone in his pocket.

He had a date to be getting to, and he didn't want to keep the lovely Alexander waiting.

***

Magnus walked into the lobby of the River Cafe and his eyes almost immediately spotted Alec. He walked over to him, his heart fluttering pathetically in his chest when Alec looked over at him and smiled widely.

"Hey," Alec greeted, trying (and failing) to discretely give Magnus a once over.

"Hey," Magnus repeated, taking the chance to do his own once over of Alec. He was wearing a tight black shirt tucked into black dress pants, as well as a black blazer and black dress shoes. Usually Magnus thought wearing all black made a person look drab, but that wasn't Alec's case whatsoever. He looked _incredible_. Even his hair had been craftily styled so it was off of his face.

"You look amazing," Magnus told him sincerely.

He delighted in the light pink that colored Alec's cheeks at the compliment.

"Thank you, so do you. I like the shirt," Alec said.

Magnus smiled at him. "Thank you. It's one of my favorites." It then struck him that the two of them couldn't spend their entire date just standing there in the lobby. "I'm going to tell the hostess of our reservations and then we can be seated, yeah?"

Alec nodded and Magnus walked over to the hostess. He greeted her and then told her he had a reservation under the name 'Bane'.

The hostess told him to follow her, so Magnus gestured for Alec to follow as well. She led them to their table and both of them sat across from each other. Magnus had specifically requested that they get a table next to the window, because this restaurant had the nicest view of the city's skyline in all of Brooklyn (at least in Magnus' opinion).

He glanced over at Alec and saw that he was admiring the view, his eyes slightly wide.

"Do you like it?" Magnus asked.

Alec looked back at Magnus, and Magnus couldn't help but admire the way the candlelight accentuated his features.

"It's beautiful," Alec said, "you really know how to woo a guy."

Magnus raised an eyebrow at that statement, leaning in slightly. "Are you confessing to being wooed, Alexander?" He asked lowly.

Alec's reaction was a beautiful sight to behold, even better than the view outside. His mouth gaped open and then he fish-mouthed, trying hard to think of the right words to say. His cheeks had once again turned a light pink color.

"Who told you my name is Alexander?" Is what Alec ended up asking, taking a sip from the water that had been placed in front of them.

Magnus laughed delightedly. "No one, I just assumed it was. Does that mean I'm right?"

Alec huffed out a laugh of his own. "Yes, it does. I started going by Alec after my sister Izzy was born. She couldn't say Alexander, and she couldn't pronounce the 'x' in Alex, so she called me Alec. I guess the name just sort of stuck."

"That's adorable," Magnus told him, hearing the fondness in his own voice.

Alec ducked his head down. "I've never told anyone that before."

Their waitress came over to their table and asked if they would like anything other to drink than water. Magnus asked Alec if he liked red wine, and when he said he did, that's what they decided on.

Once their glasses arrived, Magnus held his out for a toast.

"To us," he said.

Alec clinked his glass with Magnus' own. "To us," he agreed, and they both took a drink.

***

"Wait, you have cats?" Alec asked, clearly delighted.

Magnus hummed. "Mhm, I have two. Church, who's a grumpy little thing, and Chairman Meow, who's only a kitten."

"I've always wanted a pet, but my parents never allowed us to have them in the, uh, the house."

"That's a shame. You'll have to meet them sometime, I know they would like you. Well, the Chairman would, anyway. Church is a bit picky about new people."

"I'd love to meet them," Alec said genuinely.

Magnus smiled at him, about to say something else, when he heard someone to his left clear their throat.

He looked over at the person, as did Alec, and felt his jaw drop.

It was Raphael. And Simon.

"Magnus! What a coincidence seeing you here," Raphael said.

That was when Magnus remembered Raphael asking him earlier that night where he and Alec would be going for their date.

This wasn't a coincidence. Raphael had absolutely planned this.

Magnus spared a glance Alec's way and saw that he was giving Magnus a confused look.

He let out a sigh.

"Alec, these are my friends, Simon and Raphael."

Alec held out his hand to the two of them, a small, polite smile on his lips. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Alec."

Raphael took Alec's hand and smirked smoothly. "Oh, so you're the guy I've heard so much about. Magnus just won't stop t—"

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Magnus interrupted, giving Raphael a sharp glare.

"Getting dinner, of course!" Simon piped up.

Vampires couldn't eat human food without getting sick off of it, so Magnus easily saw through the lie. Alec, however, did not.

"Did you guys want to join us?" Alec offered, though he then looked over at Magnus. "As long as that's alright with you, of course."

Magnus smiled cheerfully.

"That's a great idea, Alexander. What do you say, you two? Join us for dinner?" Magnus asked Simon and Raphael.

The two of them shared a skeptical look, but it was Raphael who eventually gave in, slowly nodding his head.

"You mind if I sit next to you? I'm sure Raphael and Simon want to sit together," Magnus said to Alec, seizing the opportunity to be closer to him.

"Yeah, of course," Alec said, already scooting over to make space for him.

As Magnus was getting out of his booth, he leveled Raphael and Simon both with a smug grin.

This would show them to ever mess with his dates again.

He scooted in next to Alec and was immediately struck by how nice his cologne smelt, as well as how warm he felt. This was the closest they had ever been, thigh-to-thigh, and when Magnus looked up at Alec, he was already looking at him.

Alec smiled, a small, intimate thing, and Magnus smiled too, his heart picking up a frantic rhythm in his chest.

He only looked away when he thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

***

Despite Magnus' worries that Simon and Raphael would end up ruining his date with Alec, that was not even close to what happened.

Each date with Alec seemed to get better and better, because the more Magnus got to know him, the more he liked him. Alec was kind, and funny, and thoughtful.

He had been so nice to Magnus' friends, even when Simon talked a lot or Raphael grumped about something (which he did — _a lot_ ). Magnus had a feeling he was doing it for Magnus' own sake, because he knew his friends were a lot to handle, and he honestly would have understood if Alec _did_ say something.

As for the whole 'having dinner with vampires' thing, it went mostly seamlessly. The only time Alec had questioned them was when he and Magnus had ordered dinner, and Simon and Raphael had said they didn't want anything.

"Already ate!" Raphael had explained quickly, and Alec had nodded.

Once their dinner was over, they had all gone outside. Alec had shaken Raphael and Simon's hands, telling them both that it was nice to meet them, and then, finally, it was just Alec and Magnus.

"I'm...sorry, about them," Magnus apologized. "Raphael and I have been friends for a long, long time, and he likes trying to make my life miserable."

Alec laughed with a quick shake of his head. "I didn't mind. They were nice, and I — I liked being able to meet your friends."

Magnus smiled at the sentiment. He wanted to spend more time with Alec, just the two of them, and couldn't even think of telling him goodbye yet.

That was when he remembered he was in _Brooklyn_ — ten minutes away from his loft.

"Do you want to walk me home? It's only ten or so minutes from here," Magnus said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely!" Alec responded.

Magnus was pleased to hear that he sounded just as eager as Magnus felt.

***

As the two of them walked, Alec realized that their hands were close but not quite touching, and he wanted more than anything in that moment to hold Magnus' hand in his own.

He kept his gaze focused on the street as he, just slightly, brushed his hand against Magnus', hoping that he got the hint.

He did. Not even a second later, Magnus' hand locked with his own, and Alec felt his heart soar in his chest.

He hadn't ever held hands with someone before. It was...nice.

"I had a really good time tonight," Alec said, "The cafe was beautiful."

Magnus smiled at him, lightly swinging their hands. "I'm glad you had a good time. Maybe our next date could be a little more...private."

Alec felt his cheeks flush. He knew that Magnus had meant that their next date would be just between the two of them, but he couldn't help hearing a hidden innuendo in his words.

"How about, the next time you're free, you come over to my loft? We could have a movie night or something," Magnus suggested.

Alec smiled at the thought of it just being the two of them.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. Do you like Chinese food? I could bring takeout over for the two of us," Alec offered.

"I do," Magnus said, "That sounds like a plan, then."

It was only a couple of minutes later that they arrived in front of Magnus' loft, and Alec felt his heart sink.

He didn't want to say goodbye to Magnus. Not yet. Not without...

Alec pursed his lips.

"I'll see you, then?" Magnus asked, looking up at Alec with wide brown eyes.

Alec nodded, and he was about to let Magnus walk off, when he noticed their hands were still twined together.

He gave Magnus' hand a slight squeeze to stop him from walking away, and Magnus gave him a confused look.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Kiss me," Alec blurted out, and then immediately flushed. "I mean — you don't have to, obviously, only if you want..."

Magnus took a step closer to Alec. A wide smile was starting to form on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Alec's neck, wanting to have him as close as possible.

Alec felt his heartbeat start to hammer away in his chest. He had thought that sitting in the same booth as Magnus at the restaurant had been nice, but this type of closeness was so much better. All Alec had to do right now was lean slightly down and his lips would be touching Magnus', but he wanted to wait until Magnus said something, until he confirmed that Alec could kiss him.

"Of course I want to kiss you, Alexander," Magnus murmured, laughing softly at Alec's responding grin.

Then, instead of Alec leaning down, Magnus tilted his head upwards and sealed their lips together for the first time.

It was...incredible. Alec had only kissed one person before, back when he was seventeen, but it hadn't been anything like this. Magnus' lips moved slowly against Alec's own, languidly, and somehow that made Alec feel even more than if the kiss had been rushed.

He brought his hands to Magnus' face and lightly cupped his cheeks, wanting to have him as close as possible.

Magnus hummed contentedly and Alec thought he felt him smile against his lips.

When they separated for air, Alec had to take a second to open his eyes, but when he did, he saw that Magnus was already looking at him. His eyes were wide and soft as he looked up at Alec, and Alec took a moment to admire him: the way the streetlights perfectly accentuated his features, the way his lips were slightly swollen from kissing Alec.

He was beautiful. And he had just been kissing _Alec_.

"What are you thinking about?" Magnus whispered.

Alec's cheeks flushed. "You're...you're really..." Alec tried to think of the right word, but his mind continued to fail him. "Pretty."

As soon as he said it, Alec groaned loudly and used both of his hands to cover up his face. "Oh my god, that's not — that's not the right word, that's not what I meant, I'm..."

He only removed his hands from his face when he heard Magnus laughing, his head thrown back in obvious glee.

"Oh, Alec, you're adorable," he told him, "I'm more than alright with being called pretty. It's quite the compliment, actually."

Alec let out a relieved breath. "Really?"

"Yes, absolutely," Magnus said. He reached out to lightly trace Alec's jawline and then pressed one last, lingering kiss to Alec's lips.

Alec tilted his head and deepened what was supposed to be the brief kiss, his breath hitching when he felt Magnus grab onto the lapels of his blazer. He didn't want to say goodbye to Magnus, especially not now that they could be doing this, touching and kissing each other.

It was Magnus who eventually backed away, giving Alec an accusatory look.

"Are you trying to get me to invite you inside?" He asked.

Alec gaped. "N-no," he stammered.

Magnus smiled teasingly at him. "Good, because I have an early morning and you're _very_ distracting." He then took Alec's hand and lightly squeezed. "I'll see you soon, okay? Text me when you're next free and I'll see if I am as well."

"Yeah, I'll do that," Alec promised, giving Magnus' hand one last squeeze. "Goodnight, Magnus."

"Goodnight, Alexander."

Magnus let go of Alec's hand and waved before walking up the stairs to his front door. Alec waited until he was inside before getting his phone out and calling a cab.

He had a feeling his thoughts would be on Magnus for the rest of the night.

***

Magnus barely had time to revel in how amazing his night had been when his phone pinged, alerting him that he had a text message.

He looked and saw that it was Raphael, and not in their groupchat. He was texting Magnus and only Magnus.

That set off slight warning signs in Magnus' head, but he decided not to worry about it just yet. He walked into his bedroom, tossed his phone onto his bed, and then made his way to the bathroom.

While in there, he washed his face of any makeup and then moisturized (his fellow warlock friends often asked him why he spent so much time on skin care if he couldn't age anyway. Magnus stood by the fact that even if warlocks were immortal, they were still prone to crow's feet, something he had often told his dear friend, Elias).

Once his skin care routine was finished, he undressed and changed into his favorite ruby red silk robe.

Even though he was dreading what Raphael's text could possibly say, he then slinked into bed and grabbed onto his phone. He held onto it for a little while, staring at Raphael's name on his lock screen, worrying.

He didn't know what it was. He just...didn't have a good feeling about whatever it was that Raphael was telling him.

He told himself he was being foolish and quickly unlocked his phone before he could change his mind.

"There was something off about Alec's blood."

Magnus stared at the message for what must have been ten minutes straight, his mouth slightly opened.

Okay, so he had been right. The message wasn't a good one.

He decided on getting the worst case scenario out of the way first.

"Off like demon-off??" Magnus texted back.

Raphael responded almost immediately. "No, definitely not a demon."

Magnus let out a breath of relief. He had been about to get up out of bed and brush his teeth for a second time tonight. The thought of kissing a demon (and enjoying it) was...off putting, to say the least.

"But there was something else there. Something I haven't smelt in...a long time. I can't put my finger on it," Raphael said.

Magnus gnawed nervously on his bottom lip. "Is it possible you've met him before?" He asked.

Raphael waited a minute before responding. "I suppose, although I didn't recognize him and he didn't seem to recognize me."

Magnus' brain tried to process what he had been told. If Alec wasn't a mundane (or a demon), then what could he be? He had eaten tonight, so he wasn't a vampire. Magnus would know him if he was a warlock. His ears were perfectly normal, which ruled out Seelie. He also didn't have runes, which meant he wasn't a Shadowhunter, either. Magnus supposed he could be a werewolf, but wouldn't Raphael have recognized that scent?

Magnus looked at his phone to see that Raphael had texted him again.

"I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. I haven't been around a mundane since before Simon was turned. Maybe I just needed to feed."

Magnus let out a breath of relief. Clearly that was what had happened.

Alec was a mundane, he told himself. A nice, cute mundane, who was also a really good kisser.

Raphael had just been hungry.

"Well eat something then and stop trying to ruin my relationship, please and thanks," Magnus said.

Raphael called him a nasty word in Spanish with a middle finger emoji.

Magnus responded with the yellow moon face emoji, and laughed when Raphael sent back the blue moon face.

Magnus placed his phone on his night stand and pulled his covers over him, resting his head on his pillow.

He told himself not to think about Alec being anything other than mundane, because that just wasn't the case.

There wasn't anything to worry about.

***

Alec and Magnus decided to have their next date that Saturday, which was a week from their last one. Even though they had texted throughout the week, once it was Saturday, Alec truly couldn't wait to see Magnus again. It had been a long, busy week, and he couldn't wait to curl up with Magnus, movies, and Chinese food.

They had planned on meeting at six-thirty at Magnus', so Alec just had to get through the rest of the day.

At least, that was the plan, until Jace came up to him and told him he needed to talk.

Jace looked around the room. "Um...in my bedroom, maybe?"

Even though Alec was confused about why they couldn't just talk where they were right now, he nodded, following Jace to his bedroom.

Jace closed the door behind him once they got there.

"What's going on? You're worrying me," Alec said.

"It's nothing...major, or anything. I just need you to do something for me. For all of us."

"...Okay?"

Jace ran a hand through his hair. He was clearly nervous, which was doing nothing to soothe Alec's anxiety.

"I kind of, um, got caught at a vampire bar last night, and apparently the owner of the bar is second in command of the New York vampire clan."

Alec's mouth gaped open.

"I wouldn't say anything yet. There's more," Jace told him regretfully.

"Please just...keep going."

"So, the owner told me that she wanted to speak to the head of the New York Institute, and I wasn't about to tell Mom or Dad about what I did. So I told her my older brother would speak to her, Saturday at six."

"Six?" Alec asked.

"Yeah. You're not...busy, or anything, right?"

Alec gave him an unimpressed look. " _Yes_ , I am. I have a date." He then shook his head, having to prevent himself from literally strangling his brother. "Why do you do stuff like this, Jace? You know that Shadowhunters aren't allowed at Downworlder facilities. Next they're going to be coming into the Institute in retaliation."

"I have a good reason," Jace swore.

Alec looked at him expectantly.

"There's...a guy."

"Okay? What about him?"

Jace bit his lip. "I like him."

"So you took him to a vampire bar because you like him?"

"He was already there. Alec, he's...a vampire."

Alec gaped. He had to sit down, and when he did, he put his head in his hands. "Oh my god, Jace. Oh...my god."

"I'm sorry, I didn't...I didn't _mean_ for it to happen!"

Alec abruptly looked up at Jace. "Who knows about this?"

"No one! Just me and him. And you, now. You won't tell the Clave, will you?"

Alec shook his head. "Of course I'm not going to tell the Clave. You're my _brother_." He then let out a breath. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"A month."

Alec raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been expecting that. "And since when do you like boys? I thought I was the gay one in the family."

Jace let out a sharp laugh, his hand going over his mouth at the sound. "I'm not, like, _fully_ gay or anything. I still like girls. But, apparently, I like boys, too. Like, bisexual, you know?"

Alec smiled at his brother. "That's...nice." He then sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm trying really hard to be cool with this, but. If anyone were to find out you've been seeing a Downworlder, you could be deruned. _All of us_ could be deruned. Is he worth that?"

"That's not going to happen. No one's going to find out."

"What if they do?" Alec asked.

Jace shook his head. "If anything, they'll just derune me. Not the rest of you guys. And Simon...he's worth it."

"You've known him for a _month_ , Jace!" Alec exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"I don't care. I've never felt the way I feel about him."

Alec let out a breath. He couldn't yell at Jace about seeing a Downworlder, not if he made him this happy.

"Okay. I'll meet with, what's her name?"

"Lily."

"I'll meet with Lily and cover for you. But, please, promise me you won't go to any more Downworlder hotspots for this guy? You're just going to get yourself into more trouble."

Jace nodded. "I promise." He then smiled and walked over to Alec, wrapping him in a strong hug. " _Thank you_ , Alec. I knew you'd understand."

Alec reciprocated the hug, albeit feeling like allowing his brother to keep seeing this vampire would end in nothing but trouble.

But it wasn't like he could stop him. Jace was his own person, capable of making his own decisions.

"I'm going to call Magnus," Alec said, breaking the hug.

Jace winced. "I'm sorry, bro."

Alec waved the apology away with his hand. "What's done is done, I guess. Just don't let it happen again and we're good."

He walked out of Jace's room and made his way to his own. Once there, he closed his bedroom door, and then sat on his bed.

The last thing he wanted to do was cancel. He knew that he had only gone a week without seeing Magnus, but it had felt like forever, and he wanted to see him again.

He dialed Magnus' number and put the phone next to his ear. He hoped he would understood.

"Hello?" Magnus said.

Alec smiled at being able to hear his voice. "Hey. Magnus, about tonight...I've been called into a late meeting tonight that starts at six. There's no way I'll be able to make it by six-thirty."

"Oh. Do you want to reschedule, or?"

"I really want to see you again," Alec confessed, "So I'd rather not. But I don't know how late I'm going to be, and I don't want to keep you waiting..."

"Hey," Magnus said softly, "I'm perfectly fine with waiting. I can order the Chinese and make drinks for myself, it'll be fun."

Alec laughed at the thought. "Thank you. For being understanding, that is."

"Of course. Text me when your meeting's over, yeah?"

"I will. See you tonight, Magnus."

He could practically hear the smile in Magnus' voice as he said, "See you, Alexander," and then ended the call.

***

Alec dressed in his best business attire for his meeting with Lily. He couldn't remember the last time he had met one-on-one with a Downworlder, or the last time he had met with one at all.

He wanted to look presentable when he did: on behalf of his fellow Shadowhunters.

Jace had given him the directions, and he had taken a cab to the club.

Now, he was standing in front of it, his heart in his throat. Was he even allowed to meet one-on-one with a Downworlder without the Clave's consent?

His mind was drawing a blank.

But he had to do this for his brother, for Jace. He'd be in even more trouble if Alec didn't just get this meeting over with.

He knocked on the club's door, and then stepped inside when he found it unlocked.

"Alec Lightwood, head of the New York Institute," he declared, looking around what seemed to be the deserted club.

Only a couple of minutes later, a woman walked out in front of him. She was tall and thin, with a short, black bob. She was dressed in a tight black dress, the color of which contrasted sharply with the paleness of her skin.

"Lily Chen," she introduced. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm afraid we're not meeting here on the best of terms, now, are we?"

Alec opened his mouth to respond, but Lily beat him to it.

"Follow me, Shadowhunter. There's no reason for us to remain standing."

She began to walk away and Alec followed her until they arrived to a high top table. He sat on one side and she sat on the other, clearly assessing him.

"I apologize for the informality of this meeting, but I didn't have much time to plan it. You know, considering I wasn't exactly expecting to find your Shadowhunter brother in my Downworlder club last night."

Okay, so Lily was mad. Alec supposed that she had every right to be.

"You don't have to apologize. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for my brother's behavior," Alec said.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Why should _you_ apologize for your brother?"

Alec pursed his lips. He wasn't completely sure why.

"I figured it was best that he didn't do or say anything else that could get him into more trouble," he said, which wasn't a lie.

"Will he be doing anything else that gets him into trouble? Because I heard from one of the leaders from the werewolf pack that he was getting cozy at the Hunter's Moon which, as you know, is strictly for Downworlders. As is my club, of course."

Goddammit. Jace was not making this easy on him.

"I hadn't been aware of him visiting the Hunter's Moon."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you telling me that the head of the New York Institute is unaware of what goes on in his own Institute?"

"No!" Alec exclaimed. "That's absolutely not true. I'm usually well aware of what happens. Jace is just..."

How could he describe what Jace was without using profanity?

"Jace is a special case," he opted on.

Lily was silent for a second before shrugging. "I suppose every clan, or pack, or whatever it is you Shadowhunters go by, has that one special case. A new fledgling of ours is convinced he can singlehandedly bring peace between the Shadow and Downworlds," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Alec felt his stomach flip. Was that the vampire who Jace was seeing? He couldn't imagine any of the other vampires being so eager to date a Shadowhunter unless they were...unless they were a fledgling.

By the angel. Jace was dating a _fledgling_.

"I already talked to him once, and I'll talk to him again. I want you to be assured that this won't be happening again," Alec said.

"I want to believe you, and in a way I suppose I do. You actually look at me while we're speaking and don't talk to me as if I'm lesser than you."

Alec frowned. "Other Shadowhunters have done that to you?"

"Well, they used to, anyway. I haven't spoken to an actual Shadowhunter in maybe a century." She then smirked. "Let's just say your brother didn't exactly put a good taste in my mouth about the new generation."

Alec grimaced.

"Back to the point I was getting at. Even though I want to believe you, I'm going to have to throw an incentive out there to keep your brother in line."

"Incentive?" Alec repeated.

"I haven't told any of the clan that the Shadowhunter who went to the Hunter's Moon also paid a visit to my club. The werewolves are already quite mad at him. I don't imagine he wants the vampires against him, as well."

"So what do I do to get you to stay silent?" Alec asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Lily shrugged. "I'm a simple vampire. If you keep your word that your brother will keep his nose in his own Shadowhunter business, then my clan never finds out about this little...mishap."

Alec wondered, briefly, if Jace dating a vampire counted as him sticking his nose outside of Shadowhunter business, but he wasn't about to ask. He knew they'd be in a lot more trouble if Lily (or any Downworlder) found out a Shadowhunter and a Downworlder were in a romantic relationship.

So he stuck his hand out for Lily to shake and felt only slightly guilty about not telling her the whole truth.

He would keep his word on Jace not going to any other Downworlder spots. He just had to hope Jace and his vampire never got found out, which was...risky, to say the least.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Alec," Lily said as she shook his hand.

"Likewise."

She offered him a small, barely there smile, and then she was gone, disappearing into a back room.

Alec was just as quick (well, not really, vampires were admittedly much faster than Shadowhunters) to leave and make his way outside. He didn't want to be caught in vampire territory late at night by himself, especially considering he hadn't bothered glamoring his runes.

Shit. He hadn't glamored his runes and he had a date with Magnus tonight, who had yet to see them.

Alec looked down at his phone to check what time it was: seven o'clock. He was only thirty minutes late, but by the time he got back to the Institute and then to Brooklyn, it would probably be pushing seven-thirty or eight.

He called a cab and told the cabbie to take him to Brooklyn, just to get him out of vampire territory. Once in the backseat, he texted Izzy, asking if a scarf or makeup would be a better way to disguise his neck rune.

"Well," Izzy responded almost instantaneously. "There's cons to each. What if it's hot in Magnus' and you want to take your scarf off? Plus, with the makeup, you have no idea how to blend in foundation, so Magnus would probably be able to see the rune anyway."

Alec groaned, but then Izzy was texting him yet again.

"But, to be honest, _hermano_ , the neck is the worst place to try and cover on a date, especially if it's a date that's at his loft."

"Why??" Alec asked with a confused looking emoji.

"Because make outs are bound to happen, Alec, and neck kisses are a big part of make outs!"

Alec could not believe he was talking to his little sister about neck kisses. This was truly his life.

"I'm just gonna stop to a store in Brooklyn and see if they have scarfs or makeup. Maybe I'll go with both, if they have it," Alec responded, effectively ending all talk of making out.

It wasn't that Alec didn't enjoy the thought of making out with Magnus, because obviously he _did_. Their first kiss had been amazing.

But Alec was dead tired. His entire body felt like it was aching from the long day (week, really), and all he wanted to do was rest.

And see Magnus, of course.

He tipped the cabbie and then walked until he found a convenience store not too far from Magnus'. Luckily, they sold both makeup and scarves, so Alec went with both of them. He had one of the lady's in the cosmetic's section pick out the foundation shade that was "just right for him", as she called it, and then told her he would pay her extra if she could apply it for him.

Apparently it wasn't the wildest of suggestions, because the lady actually had a chair set up just for doing other mundanes' makeup, if they happened to asked.

This whole experience was mind-boggling to Alec. The mundane world was _weird_.

"Why are you covering up your tattoo, anyway?" The lady asked.

"Christian mother," Alec lied easily, "She doesn't know I have it and would probably kill me if she saw it."

The lady nodded as if she understood.

When she showed him the end result, he let out a sigh of relief. There was no stamina rune in sight, but his neck didn't look like it was caked in makeup, either. It looked natural.

"Thank you so much," he told the lady as he handed her the money he had promised her, plus a little extra. "Keep the change!"

He then hurried out of the store, checking his clock to see that it was seven-fifteen.

Okay, seven-fifteen was good. He would get to Magnus' by seven-twenty, and hopefully Magnus would still want to see him.

Alec took his black scarf out of his plastic bag and wrapped it around his neck, tossing the bag in a nearby trash can once he was done with it.

Once Alec had finally made it to Magnus' apartment, he pressed the buzzer, eagerly waiting for Magnus to buzz him up.

"High — shit, I mean — hi, who is it?" Magnus asked.

Alec furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but he shrugged it off. "It's Alec."

"Oh, come on in, Alexander!"

Alec was pleased to hear that Magnus sounded just as eager as Alec was himself.

He opened the door and walked up the steps until he made it to Magnus' front door. He was getting ready to knock when suddenly the door flew open, and there was Magnus, dressed the most casual that Alec had ever seen him in black sweatpants and a maroon sweater. However, his hair and makeup were still done perfectly.

Magnus' eyes were similarly raking up and down Alec's body. "You're all dressed up," he commented, sounding equally impressed as he was surprised.

"Oh, yeah, I, uh, I wanted to look presentable for my meeting."

"You look good," Magnus told him, his voice low.

Alec cheeks heated up. "Yeah?"

Magnus smiled at him and pulled him in by his coat lapels so he could give him a quick kiss. "More than good," he whispered against Alec's lips.

Alec felt unbelievably flustered. He wasn't used to someone complimenting him so insistently and sincerely, but. He liked it. _A lot_.

"Come on in, I have the Chinese food ready if you're still hungry."

Alec walked into Magnus' loft and closed the door shut behind him. As he followed Magnus to his kitchen, he took it in the atmosphere of the loft. It was very eccentric, like Magnus himself, and filled with various items from all around the world (most likely from Magnus' many travels).

"So, are you hungry, or?" Magnus prompted.

Alec quietly cursed himself. He had been too busy admiring Magnus' place to respond to him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I was...looking around," he admitted sheepishly, "I'm starving, though."

Magnus smiled at him and went to get two bowls out. "Good, because I bought lots."

"I could help you dish it out?" Alec offered.

"No, no, go sit down. You look exhausted."

Alec had wanted to help Magnus out, but he was secretly glad to be able to sit down. He _was_ exhausted.

He took a seat in one of the stools at Magnus' island and watched as Magnus dumped the Chinese food into bowls for them, his mouth practically salivating from how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since lunch, which had been around noon.

"Do you like lo mein?" Magnus asked. His voice was casual, but he was looking at Alec like this simple question would either make or break their relationship.

Alec couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, of course. Who doesn't?"

Magnus let out a sigh that sounded truly relieved. "Good, I don't have to break up with you."

Those words surprised a laugh out of Alec, and Magnus smiled at him, handing him his bowl as well as a cocktail.

"I made the cocktail myself, I hope you like it," Magnus said offhandedly, sitting in the stool next to Alec.

Alec decided to try the cocktail first and was immediately overwhelmed by the taste of strong alcohol on his tongue.

He hoped his face didn't betray how he really felt about the drink as he said, "It's good!"

"Not much of a drinker?" Magnus guessed, an amused lilt to his voice.

Alec shook his head. He was glad that Magnus understood. "Not much at all."

Magnus took a drink from his own cocktail, smirking at Alec from around the rim of his glass. "More for me, I suppose," he said, and then, "How did your meeting go?"

"It went well. At least, I hope so, anyway."

"You're not sure?" Magnus asked curiously.

Alec shrugged. "It's hard to tell, especially considering it was last minute and my mind's too fried to run over the details at the moment."

"You know, if you're tired and just want to go home and sleep, I wouldn't blame you in the slightest," Magnus offered.

"No!" Alec exclaimed, way too fast, but he continued anyway. "I — I wanted to see you again."

Magnus looked over at him, his mouth just slightly parted and his eyes wide.

"Is that weird?" Alec asked, wondering if he shouldn't have said that or...

"It's not weird at all, Alec. I wanted to see you, too."

Alec smiled, feeling his heart flutter in his chest.

Going over to Magnus' instead of going home had clearly been the right decision.

***

Magnus, in all honesty, hadn't put much thought into the movie he had selected for himself and Alec to watch. He'd picked a movie from his chick flick section, fully expecting Alec to quickly grow bored of it and for the two of them to busy themselves in other ways, but that was not what happened.

Alec surprised him. Instead of whining about Magnus' choice of movie (he had gone with 10 Things I Hate About You), Alec had paid close attention to it, seeming as if he was genuinely enjoying the movie.

They had both sat cross-legged on the couch together, so close that their legs and arms were touching, but that was as close to cuddling as they had gotten.

Until about halfway into the movie, when Alec lightly grabbed onto Magnus' arms and rested his head on his shoulder.

He looked up at Magnus with his wide hazel eyes, his face only a few inches from Magnus' own.

"This okay?" He asked.

Magnus saw that Alec's legs were no longer crossed but bent, and his body was leaning against Magnus' own. Magnus slipped an arm around Alec's waist and thought he heard Alec's breath hitch slightly in his throat.

"It's fine, as long as you don't fall asleep," Magnus told him jokingly.

Alec diverted his attention back to the television, letting out a huff. "I'm not going to fall asleep. I have to see if Kat finds out Patrick is only dating her as a bet."

Of course, twenty minutes later and he was out like a light, quietly snoring against Magnus' neck.

Magnus seized the opportunity to admire Alec's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful and young, no worry marks or creases on his face.

He tilted his head slightly so he could nose against Alec's hair and, okay, he might have taken a sniff or two.

Alec's shampoo smelled like your typical shampoo, nothing special, but his hair was _incredibly_ soft.

It was the thought of Alec's scent that brought Magnus' conversation with Raphael back to his mind. He had noticed the (quite frankly, hideous) scarf around Alec's neck as soon as he had walked into his loft, and he had been curious.

Most Shadowhunters tended to have neck runes, which would explain why Alec might have felt the need to put on a scarf that didn't go with the rest of his outfit in the slightest, and why his scent might have been differed from a mundane's, to Raphael.

Magnus' fingers all but itched to pull at Alec's scarf, though he stopped himself from doing so.

Alec couldn't be a Shadowhunter. Alec was thoughtful, kind, caring, all characteristics of which Shadowhunters did not possess.

Maybe Magnus was just being paranoid from what Raphael had told him.

But, then again, wouldn't it be best to check and make sure? What if he didn't, and Alec really was a Shadowhunter?

Magnus would probably be sent to Hell to live with his father if the Clave ever found out he was dating one of their angelic kind.

The thought sent a shiver down Magnus' spine. Okay, he was doing this: for his own sanity.

His fingers delicately grasped at Alec's scarf and unwrapped it from Alec's neck. He was so close to taking it off, to seeing Alec's bare neck, when he felt Alec begin to stir.

"What are you doing?" He murmured, his voice hoarse and his eyes still closed.

"Taking your scarf off so you don't choke in your sleep," Magnus said hurriedly, "Is that okay?"

Alec let out a huff of laughter. "Mhm. You're so kind," he mumbled, nuzzling against Magnus' neck and then promptly passing out once more.

Magnus took a deep breath. At least he didn't have to worry about getting caught now.

He lightly pulled the last of Alec's scarf away from his neck, tossing it to the floor, and...

And Alec's neck was perfectly clear. There wasn't a rune to be seen.

Magnus shook his head at himself. Why had he been so worried? Alec wasn't a Shadowhunter. He wasn't about to get Magnus into heaps of trouble just by dating him.

Alec was a mundane, and that had been proven to him tonight.

Magnus whispered a quiet apology to Alec's sleeping form for doubting him, closed his eyes, and then rested his head against Alec's own.

He was out in a matter of minutes.

***

Magnus was amused to wake up to the sight of Alec's head in his lap, still very much asleep. Sometime during the night he must have repositioned, though Magnus had no idea how he could have done so without waking Magnus up.

He lightly lifted Alec's head from his lap as he stood up and then gently placed it back on the couch.

He figured Alec would probably be hungry when he woke up, so he went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Unlike the Chinese from last night, which he had actually gone out to pick up, he figured he could magic up breakfast while Alec was asleep.

What did mundanes eat for breakfast? Magnus was always on the go, so he was used to just grabbing something on his way to wherever it was he'd be heading for the day. He hadn't made a proper breakfast in years.

He closed his eyes, thinking of one of his favorite diners, and then snapped his fingers.

When he looked in front of him, he saw two white cardboard takeout boxes. One consisted of toast, eggs done sunny-side-up, and bacon. The other was pancakes and a side of fruit salad.

Magnus magicked more than enough money into the cash register and then went about setting the food onto plates for the two of them. Once that was done with, he got out silverware and napkins, as well as syrup and butter for the pancakes.

He looked at the table for a second before nearly smacking himself in the head. He'd forgotten the coffee, of all the things.

He was just about to magic some up when he heard footsteps and then Alec was walking into the kitchen.

Magnus couldn't even be mad at him walking in at the most inconvenient of times. Alec looked adorable. His hair was messy from sleep and he had stripped of his coat, so he was wearing only his dark gray button down shirt, untucked.

"You made breakfast?" Alec asked, and oh, god, his morning voice.

Magnus was _weak_.

"I picked up breakfast," Magnus admitted with a laugh, "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I got two pretty basic things."

At least he assumed they were basic. Who even knew.

Alec's eyes looked between the two plates and he smiled a little when he saw the pancakes.

"I haven't had pancakes since I was a kid," he admitted, a hint of sheepishness to his voice.

"Then they're yours," Magnus told him.

He watched as Alec took a seat in front of the plate with the pancakes, but he didn't start to eat, instead getting out his phone.

"My sister wants to know where I am," he explained with a laugh.

While Alec was distracted, Magnus turned his back to him and quickly snapped two grande coffees from Starbucks in front of him. He then turned around to see if Alec had noticed, but he was still focused on his phone.

Magnus let out a sigh of relief.

"I got coffee, too," he told Alec with a wide smile; partially because he had been successful and partially because he was going to have coffee.

Alec pocketed his phone and took one of the coffees from Magnus, his smile almost equally as wide as Magnus'.

"This is really nice. Thank you, Magnus," he said softly.

Magnus felt his heart flutter and he sat down next to Alec, leaning in for a quick peck to his lips.

"Of course," he said, "I'm glad you like it."

They sat and ate breakfast together and Magnus initiated a game of footsie while they talked, Alec's cheeks going the perfect shade of pink whenever Magnus' foot slid a little too far.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" Magnus asked.

Alec's eyebrows scrunched as he thought about it. "Nothing's coming to mind. I think I might have a free day, for once."

Magnus tried not to feel too eager but, well, it was a lost cause.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stay over and finish the movie from last night. Because I seem to remember _someone_ falling asleep right in the middle of it, despite claiming that they wouldn't."

Alec let out a huff of laughter and lightly bumped Magnus' shoulder with his own. "I was _tired_ ," he said grumpily, though he then smiled, "But, yeah. I'd like that. Staying over."

Magnus nodded, covering his smile with his coffee cup. He had a feeling it was going to be a good morning.

***

They had spent the rest of the morning cuddled on the couch, 10 Things I Hate About You playing on the tv in front of them. Once the movie had ended, Magnus had leaned up to press a kiss to Alec's lips that had quickly escalated into a make out session.

That was mostly Alec's doing. Magnus had been teasing him _all_ of breakfast with that damn footsie game and he was _frustrated_.

Luckily, Magnus didn't seem to mind much — or at all.

His nimble fingers went to unbutton Alec's button down and it was then that Alec remembered the runes covering his arms were still a very real thing.

He didn't know what to do, didn't want to tell Magnus to abruptly stop for fears of seeming suspicious. So, instead, he grabbed hold of Magnus' wrists and flipped them around, changing their position so that he was the one on top and Magnus was underneath of him.

Magnus' eyes were wide and dilated as he stared up at Alec, his lips slightly parted.

Alec hadn't really thought this out much farther than that. He decided on locking his lips together with Magnus' again, figuring he couldn't go wrong with just kissing.

Magnus' tongue slipped into Alec's mouth and Alec moaned. His hands let go of Magnus' wrists in favor of sliding them through his hair, cradling the back of his head so they could be even closer.

He hadn't ever kissed like this before, not even _close_. He felt like he was going to lose his mind if they kept going but he also never wanted this to end.

With Magnus' hands free, he moved them down Alec's chest, resting on his lower abs.

Alec's breath hitched in anticipation, but Magnus didn't move his hands, instead opting to break the kiss.

"I want to see you shirtless," he whispered against Alec's lips, his own lips quirking into a smirk.

Alec was really about to say to hell with it and strip of his shirt, if that was what Magnus wanted, but then a phone was vibrating on the table next to them.

Magnus blinked, reached over for the phone, and then groaned.

"I'm sorry, darling, I have to take this," he said apologetically.

Alec was quick to let go of him, sitting with his back resting on the opposite end of the couch. He could feel his cheeks starting to flush at Magnus' use of the word 'darling'.

Magnus' conversation was brief, but by the end of it, he looked rather alarmed.

"Is everything okay?" Alec asked worriedly.

"Yes, I — I'm sorry, the last thing I want to do is kick you out, but I'm going to have to leave soon."

"No, it's completely fine," Alec said, already standing up. He attempted to straighten out his shirt, but he was pretty sure it didn't do much good. "I just want to make sure you're alright."

Magnus looked over at him. He still seemed a bit dazed, either from the kissing or the phone call, but that didn't stop him from walking over to Alec and grasping both of his cheeks so he could press a lasting kiss to his lips.

"I'm good. It's just an old friend I haven't heard from in a while, and I think they might be in a bad situation right now," Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded, his lips turning down at the thought. "I hope everything works out. I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Thank you. I'll text you," Magnus said.

Alec gave his hand a squeeze, as Magnus had done after their second date, and then made his way out the front door.

***

"I thought you said Camille was in a secure location," Magnus hissed as he walked into the Hotel Dumort.

Raphael was at his side in an instant. "She _was_. She's been in our basement, locked up in her coffin, since she illegally killed and turned Simon. This wasn't a case of her escaping."

"So someone let her out?" Magnus asked. He felt like he was about to be sick. Things had been so peaceful the past couple of months without Camille around, and now he couldn't help but think that that was about to change.

What if she found out he was with Alec, a _mundane_? She would undoubtedly tell Alec about Magnus being a warlock: in fact, it would probably be the first thing that she did.

"She's still in the Hotel. I can smell her scent," Raphael said.

"So then why did you ask me to come?"

"Bait, _mi amigo_."

Magnus glared at him. The last thing he felt like being was bait for Camille Belcourt, of all people.

"Well, that and the fact that the Hotel is huge. I was hoping you and I could split up and look for her? I didn't want to ask Simon because, you know, she _murdered_  him."

Magnus figured that was good enough reasoning in keeping the fledgling out of this. He then nodded.

"You take the upstairs, I'll go downstairs," he told Raphael.

The two of them split up. As Magnus made his way downstairs, he couldn't help feeling on edge. He hadn't ever felt like this in the Hotel Dumort before.

Once he was down the stairs, he noticed Camille's casket and walked over to it. Despite the pounding in his chest and his shaky, sweaty hands, he opened up the wooden casket.

And there was Camille.

Except it wasn't. Because she was completely drained of blood, her body paper thin and just as pale.

Magnus only managed to call out Raphael's name before he was throwing up his wonderful breakfast on the floor.

***

Alec had barely been in the Institute for two minutes before Izzy was looping their arms together and walking him somewhere.

"Mom has a mission for us. A _Downworld_ mission," she told him, her voice practically leaking with enthusiasm.

Alec, on the other hand, couldn't find it in himself to be excited. "Shadowhunters don't get involved in Downworlder business. That's how it's always been, Iz. Why is Mom trying to changing that?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll tell you everything."

Once they were in their mom's office, they took their seats in front of her desk. She looked tense.

"What's going on?" Alec asked.

"An important Downworlder was killed today. An ancient vampire named Camille Belcourt."

Alec supposed the name should ring a bell, but he was rusty on important figures in the Downworld. It hadn't ever been something he really needed to know, since Shadowhunters and Downworlders didn't communicate.

"As a result of this, I'm sending you two on a mission to the Jade Wolf, where the New York werewolf pack resides. Werewolves and vampires have a longstanding history of hating each other, so it would be no surprise if they were the ones who killed Camille."

Alec crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't see how this is any of our business. Won't Izzy and I sticking our noses in Downworlder business just piss them off even more?"

Maryse gave him a sharp look. "It's our business if they start killing each other like the animals that they are. What if they come after Shadowhunters next? We have to put a stop to this before that can happen."

Alec didn't respond, but he heard Izzy next to him saying that they would accept the mission. He then walked out of the room.

He wasn't sure if he believed the stigma that Downworlders = animals who need to be controlled, but it was clear that his mom did.

When Alec had met with Lily, she had been nothing but civil with him. Plus, there was the vampire who Jace was seeing, and Jace clearly didn't have any problems with him.

"You're thinking at a mile per minute, big brother," Izzy said from beside him.

Alec closed his eyes and let out a breath. "Sorry. You ready to go?"

"I am. But I think it'd probably be for the best if you got changed."

Alec looked down to see that he was still in his clothes from last night. Between sleeping in them and Magnus' hands being all over him during their make out session, they looked properly debauched.

"Nothing happened," he told Izzy pointedly.

Izzy shrugged, though she was smirking. "I didn't say a word."

***

Magnus and Raphael had gone back to Magnus' loft after Magnus had magicked away his sick and Raphael had gotten a proper look at Camille. Neither of them could stand the thought of being at the Hotel.

"Sorry about the mess. You caught me in the middle of a date," Magnus said, still feeling numb.

"With that mundane?" Raphael asked.

Magnus nodded. He magicked himself up a mug of tea and then sat down on the couch, Raphael sitting next to him.

The vampire rested a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm _fine_ ," Magnus said with a frustrated huff, "It's not like...I didn't have feelings for her, or anything."

"Maybe not. But she still saved your life. That's not something you let go of easily."

"You would know, right?" Magnus asked, looking over at Raphael with a small, sad smile.

Raphael rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, too. "Yes, I suppose I would."

"What if something happens to you? Do you think the person behind this could be targeting vampires?" Magnus worried. It was partially the reason why he had invited Raphael over: he couldn't stomach the thought of losing two people he cared (or used to care) about in the span of two days. Especially not Raphael.

"I'm sure I'm fine. Like you said, Camille had a lot of enemies. One of them probably just caught up to her," Raphael reassured.

"How about you stay over here today? We could do each other's nails, or..."

Raphael huffed, "Alright, fine. You got any blues?"

Magnus' face lit up. " _Do I_? I just got the most amazing shade of royal blue, you're going to love it."

***

Alec immediately felt out of place as he walked into the Jade Wolf. He had a feeling that Izzy did, too, but her natural confidence kept her uncomfortableness hidden.

They had both glamored their runes, just in case the werewolves acted hostilely towards them for being Shadowhunters.

A man in a light blue shirt and shoulder holsters looked over at them before walking over when he noticed that they weren't moving.

"Do you have a pick up order?" The man asked.

"We're here on business," Alec said, "Do you think we could talk in a more private setting?"

The man hesitated for a second, though he then called out to a girl named Maia.

The girl was pretty. She had short, curly brown hair and was dressed in olive green skinny jeans and a black graphic tee with the sleeves cut off.

She looked like the type of person you didn't want to mess with. So did the man, actually.

"Yeah, Luke?" She asked.

The man, Luke, diverted his attention from Alec and Izzy to Maia.

"Could you go out back with me to speak with these two? They're here on business."

Maia looked over at Alec and Izzy. It was clear that she was sizing them up, though she then shrugged, smiling easily as she responded, "Sure thing."

The four of them made their way through the restaurant, all eyes on them as they did so. Alec was immensely glad they had made the decision to hide their runes.

Once they were outside, Luke immediately started asking questions.

"What are you guys? Werewolves from a neighboring pack?"

Izzy shook her head. "We're Shadowhunters. I'm Isabelle Lightwood, and this is my brother, Alec, acting head of the New York Institute."

Both of them looked equal amounts surprised, but Maia's surprise had a hint of anger to it.

"I swear, if I see one more Shadowhunter in Downworlder territory I'm going to—" she started, but Luke held a finger to his lips to silence her.

"I don't want any problems, Shadowhunters, but Maia has a point. This is Downworlder territory. You shouldn't be here."

Alec wanted to tell Luke that he was aware and didn't want to be here in the first place, but he didn't. _Couldn't_. Not without finding out the information they had come for.

"I'm sorry," Alec apologized softly, "And I mean that. I realize we're out of place here. But we wouldn't have come if it wasn't of the utmost importance."

"You say that, and yet you still haven't gotten to your point," Maia said with a glare.

Izzy took a step closer to her. "Don't talk to my brother like that," she warned.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it? Hit me with that whip around your wrist and tell me to stay?" Maia asked.

Izzy flushed, her mouth gaping. She was clearly flustered in a way that Alec hadn't ever seen her before.

"Okay, _back_ to the matter at hand," Alec said, giving his sister a pointed look, "An important vampire was killed today at the Hotel Dumort. We wanted to know if the werewolves had anything to do with it."

"Which vampire?" Luke asked.

"Camille Belcourt."

Luke and Maia shared a shocked look.

"We didn't know anything about it until you came here and told us," Luke said honestly.

Alec nodded. "I'm sure that's the truth, but I was informed that werewolves and vampires have a certain animosity between them. Is that true?"

"You need to brush up on your Downworlder history, Shadowhunter," Maia said.

"So it's not true?" Alec asked.

"Ever since Raphael and Lily became the heads of the Hotel Dumort, things have been peaceful between us. Raphael and I are acquaintances, and Maia and Lily are close friends. In fact, the majority of our pack gets along quite well with the clan," Luke said.

Alec smiled. He knew his mom probably wouldn't be happy with the fact that the werewolves were innocent, because she was always looking for someone to blame, but Alec himself was glad.

He stuck out his hand for Luke to shake, and the other man looked at him in surprise before gripping his hand in a firm handshake.

"Thank you for talking to me and my sister," he said, "You didn't have to, but you did, and it's much appreciated."

Luke gave him a nod and let go of his hand. Alec then turned his attention over to Maia, who was staring right back at him.

"Thank you, too," he told her.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess you aren't the _worst_ Shadowhunter I've ever met."

"You've met Shadowhunters before?" Izzy asked.

"Three. And they were all _Lightwoods_."

Maia sounded truly despaired at the fact.

Izzy crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to say that name as if it's such a bad thing. You don't know anything about our family."

"I know that two out of three of them don't know when to shut their mouths and that they think they're better than Downworlders, is that enough?"

"You...I..." Izzy fumed silently for a second before letting out a huff and spinning around. With a flip of her hair, she was strutting away from the two werewolves and Alec.

"Your sister seems like a handful," Maia said.

Alec shook his head, somewhat bewildered. "I've never seen her like that before. I guess you just really get under her skin."

"Maia has that way about her," Luke said, laughing when Maia made a face at him.

"Thanks again for speaking to me. I'm going to go find my sister before she gets into trouble," Alec said, waving at the both of them before wandering back to the restaurant to find Izzy.

***

"I cannot believe she had the _nerve_ to go there. It's — it's disrespectful!"

Izzy had been ranting to her brother the entire trip back to the Institute. At this point, Alec was just watching and listening in amusement.

"What's disrespectful?" He asked.

"She insulted our family name! Are you really not upset about this?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Izzy, I'm sure our family has said a countless amount of things about werewolves in the past. Just today Mom compared them to animals. So Maia actually had a point when she said that our family thinks they're better than Downworlders, because they _do_."

Izzy was silent for a long moment as they walked. She then looked over at Alec, her expression despairing.

"Did I make a complete fool of myself?" She asked.

Alec shrugged. "I mean...you weren't _terrible_."

"I _did_ ," Izzy groaned, "Oh, _dios_ , I have to apologize to her. Not now, though, because she probably still hates me. Maybe tonight. Do you think she'll still be at the Jade Wolf?"

"I think I remember Jace mentioning that she's a bartender at the Hunter's Moon. She'll probably be there tonight."

Izzy let out a breath of relief. " _Good_. I'll have to pick out an outfit when I get home. What do people wear to Downworld bars? You know what, don't answer that. I'll ask Jace."

Alec just shook his head. He hadn't ever seen his sister so worked up over something before, and if he didn't know better, he'd assume it was because she was attracted to Maia.

But she hadn't ever expressed any interest in girls before. It had always been _boysboysboys_ for her.

Then again, it had always been _girlsgirlsgirls_ for Jace, and he was currently dating a boy. A Downworlder boy.

Fuck, Maia was also a Downworlder.

Before Izzy could walk inside the Institute, Alec grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

She gave him a questioning look and asked, "What?", clearly wanting to get inside to pick out her outfit.

"Just...be safe, okay? Maybe glamor your runes before you leave."

Izzy smiled with a shake of her head. "Of course, big brother. I'm always safe."

She then hurried up the stairs and walked into the double doors of the Institute. Alec watched her go, trying to wrap his head around the fact that he might soon have two siblings dating Downworlders.

***

Magnus could feel the tension as he walked inside of the Jade Wolf for a Downworlder meeting. It had been a couple of days since Camille's death, but the wound was still fresh in the community.

After all, it wasn't every day an ancient Downworlder was murdered.

He took his seat next to Ragnor and Kaelie immediately began to talk.

"I'm glad you've finally arrived, Magnus, seeing as how you were there when Camille was killed," she said.

There were some gasps and whispers around the table.

Magnus gaped at her. "Um, I was very much _not there_ when Camille was killed. I was on a date, with my boyfriend, and by the time I arrived to the Hotel, she had already been dead."

"Well, everyone knows that you had a history with her. Maybe you wanted to get her out of the picture so she wouldn't interfere with your new relationship..."

"This is ridiculous," Magnus exclaimed, "you can't just throw baseless accusations at me. I didn't kill Camille, and Raphael can vouch for me."

Everyone's eyes turned to Raphael. He had brought Lily with him this time, not Simon, because this was an important matter and she was acting head of the clan.

"It's true," Raphael said, "I heard noise coming from the attic so I went downstairs to check on Camille. Her casket was wide open. I called on Magnus in the hopes that he could lure her to him, but by the time Magnus got there, Camille was dead. Whoever killed her used the emptying of her casket as a diversion so they could get the job done."

There was silence as everyone mused over Raphael's words. Then, Meliorn spoke up.

"What about you, Lily? Where were you when Camille was killed?"

Lily cast an icy look Meliorn's way. "I was at my club, cleaning up after a busy Saturday night. You can ask any of my club goers and they'll tell you the exact same thing."

Meliorn pulled a face and held his hands up in surrender.

"There's no use pointing fingers at anyone here," Luke said, "We have to trust each other more than that."

"I agree," Magnus responded.

"We don't know if this was just a one time thing with Camille or if this person is now going after all of us Downworlders. We have to look after and protect one another."

Magnus nodded at Luke's words. He strongly hoped that it was just one of Camille's enemies seeking revenge against her. There hadn't been an attack on the Downworlders as a whole since the Circle, and that had been centuries ago: the same conflict that had tore the Downworlders apart from the Shadowhunters.

It was all ancient history, he told himself. Something that Magnus only remembered because he himself was ancient.

But history had an odd way of repeating itself.

"Stay safe," Luke advised, and the rest of the members of the meeting repeated the sentiment before the meeting was adjourned.

***

Alec was fast asleep when he heard the door to his bedroom creak open. He jetted up into a sitting position and went to reach for his stele when he saw that it was only Izzy.

"What are you doing?" He whispered, and then looked at her outfit. She was in a skintight black sleeve dress, a bright red moto jacket, and rhinestoned black ankle boots. Her hair was in a messy bun and her face was void of any makeup. "And why do you look like that?"

Izzy huffed and hurried over to his bed, sitting on the edge of it. "Alec, I need to ask you something. It's important."

She sounded genuinely worried. Alec pushed aside his irritation at being woken up so early and nodded, telling her to go ahead.

"You know that whole 'Shadowhunters can't date Downworlders' rule? Well, hypothetically speaking, do you think that includes sleeping with them? Like, what if you're not dating, but you sleep with one? Would that still be punishable?"

"You slept with Maia, didn't you?"

Izzy put her head in her hands and groaned. " _Alec_ , it's not funny."

"Trust me, Izzy, I'm not laughing."

She looked at him with wide, teary, brown eyes, her bottom lip wobbling.

"Are you disappointed? Do you — do you hate me?"

Alec felt his heart plummet to his stomach and he was quick to sit next to his sister, wrapping her up in a tight hug.

"Izzy, I could _never_ hate you. It's okay. I don't care about you and Maia. I mean, I do, but I'm not mad about it, or disappointed," Alec soothed, "I just want you to be happy, more than anything."

Izzy looked up at him. "Really?" She asked softly.

" _Of course_. I'm mostly just confused as to how it happened. I thought she really hated you."

"Well, first of all, I looked good as fuck."

Alec laughed. There was the Izzy that he knew.

"And the first thing I did, as soon as I saw her, was apologize. I was so surprised when she accepted, but then she offered to get me a drink, on the house, and we. We talked for the longest time. She's so badass, Alec. She used to have this awful, abusive boyfriend, but she told him off and he hasn't shown his face in New York since. Then she asked if I wanted to go back to her apartment and it just...kind of happened."

Izzy's voice was breathy and happy as she recalled what had happened, and Alec knew it hadn't just been a one night stand: at least not for Izzy. She really seemed to like Maia.

"She told me she had an early morning meeting, so she had to leave her place, but she gave me her number," Izzy said, digging in her bra before pulling out a white slip of paper.

Alec snorted. "She couldn't have just put the number in your phone?"

Izzy shrugged with a mischievous smile. "Trust me, it was much more fun that way." She then sobered as she looked at Alec. "Thank you. For not freaking out. I know that Mom and Dad and Jace probably would h—"

Those words made Alec furrow his brow in thought. He hadn't realized that Jace hadn't told Izzy yet about him seeing a vampire, which meant that Jace really was holding the fact near and dear to him.

"Jace wouldn't have minded, Iz," he told her, "Trust me."

Izzy's eyes brightened. "You think I could tell him? I'd hate to keep something like this from him. It'd feel too much like a secret between us, you know?"

"Yeah, you should tell him. He might even be happy to hear so."

Izzy grinned, teeth and all, and wrapped Alec up in another hug. "You're the best, big brother. I still want to meet this Magnus of yours. Maybe we could go on a double date."

Alec chuckled at the idea as Izzy stood up from the bed, making her way to the door.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed.

She walked out of his room, quietly closing the door behind her, and Alec laid back down, pulling his covers over him again.

Jace and Izzy were both involved with Downworlders now. His only sibling who wasn't involved with them was Max, but Max was also twelve years old and cared about comic books and food more than he did about girls or boys.

Alec knew that he had to be supportive of his siblings, because they couldn't help who they fell for, but his mind couldn't help drifting to what would happen if they were caught.

Would they be stripped of their runes? Forced to move to another Institute or to live in the City of Bones for the rest of their lives?

Alec felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know how either of them could view one person as worth that much of a risk. Alec didn't think he would ever be able to date a Downworlder, despite the positive experiences he'd had with them personally.

He closed his eyes, telling himself that if Jace could date a vampire for almost two months and be able to keep it secret, then he had to trust that Izzy would be able to do the same with a werewolf.

He was just about to fall back asleep when his phone pinged on the nightstand beside him. Alec groaned and reached for it, blearily reading the name on the screen.

 _Magnus_.

Suddenly Alec wasn't so tired anymore.

He sat up in his bed and viewed the text message, seeing that it was Magnus asking him if he wanted to get a coffee. Magnus had then sent another message right after it, apologizing to Alec if he wasn't up yet.

"I'm up," Alec was quick to send, and then winced when he realized he hadn't even answered Magnus' question. "And I'd love to get a coffee."

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes then, sweetcheeks ;)" Magnus responded, and Alec hurried to get ready.

***

A couple of weeks passed by without any murders, and then another Downworlder was drained of blood (a werewolf, this time), and both the Downworld and Shadow-world erupted into absolute chaos.

This second murder confirmed that it wasn't just an enemy of Camille Belcourt's seeking revenge. It wasn't a one-off. Someone was intentionally going after and killing Downworlders.

Alec expected the Clave to come to the Institute to discuss a plan on how to find the Downworlder killer and stop them, but to his surprise (and disgust), nothing happened. Everyone in the Institute went on with their lives as if someone wasn't brutally murdering Downworlders.

Alec decided to take the matter into his own hands. After a week of silence on behalf of the Shadowhunters, Alec stormed into his mom's office, his face hard.

She looked up at him in surprise. "What's going on?"

"Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that someone is going around draining Downworlders of their blood?" Alec asked.

Maryse pursed her lips. "That's not any of our business, Alec. You said so yourself when I sent you to meet with the werewolf pack."

"So you'll intervene when there's a risk for the Shadowhunters but not when the Downworlders are the only ones being killed?"

"It's called protecting ourselves."

Alec shook his head. "It's called saving your own ass," he corrected, "I'm going to fire message the Clave and tell them what's going on, as well as request that they do something about it."

"Alec, this is how it's been for centuries. We don't interfere in Downworlder affairs. You're not going to change that," Maryse scolded.

"I can try," Alec stated boldly, and stormed out of the room.

He heard his mom calling out his name, but he couldn't even hear her. He went to his room and immediately got started writing his letter, letting the Clave know of the two deaths within the past month and of how the Downworlders were killed. He then let them know that something needed to be done about it and suggested they send representatives to New York to discuss solutions to the problem.

He scrawled his name and title on the bottom of the letter as well as the fire rune, and then it was off to Idris.

Alec took a breath. He told himself he was doing the right thing. The Clave would help...they had to.

***

The amount of sleep Magnus was getting per night was steadily decreasing as the numbers of Downworlders killed increased. Sure, there had only been two deaths, but there would certainly be more. There always was.

He was so tired that he didn't even bother keeping his appearance up when Luke, Maia, Simon, Raphael, and Catarina came over to his loft for a meeting.

The seelies had failed to send a representative. Either they were scared for their own lives or for the Seelie Queen's life and didn't want to leave her side: both seemed likely.

As the meeting started, Catarina took a seat next to Magnus, rubbing his back.

"Are you okay?" She whispered. "You don't look so good."

"I always look good," Magnus said weakly, and then shook his head. "What if warlocks are the next target? How do I protect my people?"

Luke shook his head. He also didn't look his best, with deep circles under his eyes. "I don't know if there's any way you can. Whoever is killing us, they're...they're  _smart_. They made me think that Maia was the one in trouble, so while I went to go check on her, they killed another member of our pack. She was _twenty_."

Maia excused herself and walked out of the room. Luke watched her go with a deep frown.

"They were friends," he said miserably.

Simon took a seat next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders in comfort. The display made Luke smile slightly, as it did Magnus.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Magnus told him, "And I don't mean to sound insensitive. But there _has to be_ something I can do. I'm the High Warlock, it's my job to protect my people."

" _Magnus_ , if something were to happen to one of us warlocks, it wouldn't be your fault," Catarina told him softly, "You know that, right?"

Magnus pursed his lips. "It feels like it would be."

"Do you think it's my fault that Camille was killed?" Raphael asked. "Or Luke's fault that one of his pack members died?"

Magnus shook his head. "Of course not."

"Then it wouldn't be your fault if something happened to a warlock," Raphael said.

"It's not—"

"Yes, it is. It's that simple."

Maia walked back into the room and reclaimed her seat next to Luke. "I say we do something about it. This person isn't invincible, right? If we all group together, we could take 'em."

"They're narrowing us out so we're not all together at the same time," Raphael guessed. "They're not going to strike again until we're separated."

Simon held up his hand. "Not to be that guy, but what happens once this person has all of the Downworlder's blood? Like, what if they mix it all together and create an unstoppable Downworlder or something like that?"

"That wouldn't happen," Raphael said, clearly annoyed.

"It _could_. I don't doubt anything anymore," Magnus argued.

"What if we asked the Shadowhunters for assistance?" Simon asked.

Everyone just looked at him. Magnus put his head in his hands. Luke sighed. Raphael cursed in Spanish.

"What? Is it that bad of an idea?" Simon mused.

"Simon, honey, the Shadowhunters are so self-involved that I doubt they even know what's been going on in the Downworld at all, much less would they ever consider helping us," Catarina said lightly.

Simon frowned.

"A few weeks ago, right after Camille's death, I had a Shadowhunter go to my restaurant and ask if the werewolves had been responsible," Luke said, "And you know the basis they used? That vampires and werewolves used to hate each other a century ago. That's how out of touch they are with the Downworld."

"I have to...pee," Simon said, and hurried out of the room.

Magnus sent a bemused look Raphael's way. "I didn't think vampires could go to the bathroom."

"We _can't_ ," Raphael said tightly, "We're _dead_."

Maia rolled her eyes. "I'll check on him."

Then she was out of the room as well, and an awkward silence filled the room.

"Well, while you guys are here, would you like cocktails? I'm making mine a double," Magnus offered.

"I'd love one," Catarina said.

"Got any whiskey?" Luke asked.

"Of course. Raphael, a Bloody Mary?"

Raphael nodded. "How much alcohol do you even have?"

Magnus looked offended. "When you've lived as many centuries as me, you _need it_."

"Ain't that the truth," Catarina murmured.

Magnus handed her a cocktail and the two of them clinked their glasses together before taking a long drink.

***

Much to Alec's surprise, the Clave sent two representatives to the New York Institute the next day. They hadn't messaged him back, so he hadn't been expecting them to show — and especially not so soon.

The representatives were Victor Aldertree and Lydia Branwell. When they walked into the front doors, their appearances seemed to scream authority and power, with Victor in a slick black suit and Lydia in long-sleeved blue dress.

Alec couldn't help but feel intimidated as he walked over to greet them.

"Alec Lightwood," he introduced, shaking both of their hands, "Thank you for responding to my fire message. I just felt like nothing—"

"You're the acting head of this Institute?" Lydia asked.

Alec blinked. He hadn't been expecting to get interrupted. "Um. Yes."

"We're here to see the head of the Institute, Maryse Lightwood. She's the one whose message we received," Victor said.

Alec's jaw didn't drop, but it was a near thing. " _What_?"

"Do you know where I might be able to find her?" Victor asked.

All Alec could do was watch in horror as Maryse walked over to Aldertree and shook his hand.

"Maryse Lightwood," she introduced, "Would you like to step into my office to discuss the issue at hand?"

"Absolutely," Victor said, and then the two of them were off.

Alec must have looked properly befuddled, because Lydia gave him a look that bordered on sympathetic but wasn't quite there.

"We received your message, as well, but the head of an Institute's concerns are always going to come before the acting head's. I hope you understand," she told him, before going to join Maryse and Aldertree.

***

Not even half an hour later, an emergency meeting was called for all of the Shadowhunters in the Institute. Alec had no idea what it could be about, but he knew that if his mother had anything to do with it, it couldn't be good.

He made sure to stand in the very front of the crowd that had gathered by the stage, not wanting to miss a word of what was said.

As Victor and Lydia stepped onto the stage, Alec looked around for his siblings. He couldn't help but wonder where they were. Usually the three of them were together for these sort of things.

"Greetings, fellow Shadowhunters," Victor said, "I wish it were under better circumstances that we were meeting here, but unfortunately some...concerning news has been brought to my attention."

Alec tried to rake his mind of what the news could possibly be, but he came up blank. What would Maryse tell the Clave to distract from the fact that Downworlders were being murdered?

"Although it may come as a shock to you, as it did to me, I regret to inform you that one of the Shadowhunters in this very Institute has been engaging in an illicit relationship with a Downworlder."

There were gasps all throughout the room, followed by whispers, but Alec couldn't hear them. His body froze. He felt chills run down his back as his mind turned into a frantic mix of _jaceizzyjaceizzyjaceizzy_.

He realized he couldn't just stand there and instead made his way through the crowd of Shadowhunters, looking desperately for his siblings. He felt on the edge of a full blown panic when he bumped into someone, and when they turned around, he felt his heart settle.

It was Izzy.

He wrapped her up in a tight hug and she hugged him back briefly, before pulling away to ask, "Where's Jace?"

Alec felt stomach fall once again. "I — I don't know. I haven't seen him. I was hoping you h—"

He was interrupted by what was currently happening on the stage. Two Shadowhunters were walking a stoic-looking Jace onto the stage. Alec took Izzy's hand so he wouldn't lose her and walked her to the front of the crowd.

"Jace Wayland," Victor said, the disgust obvious in his voice. "How are you?"

Jace glared at him. "I've been better."

"Tell me, is it true that you've been illegally seeing a Downworlder?"

Jace hesitated for a moment, before responding, "Yes."

"And what—"

"You can't do this here!" Alec exclaimed, and everyone on the stage as well as in the room turned to look at him. "You can't question him without a trial and a jury in Idris, as well as with the soul sword. It'd be an infringement of Clave law to do otherwise."

Victor's lips turned down into a frown as his eyes narrowed. Alec thought for a moment that he was going to tell him off, or maybe arrest him too, but then he nodded.

"You have a point, Alec Lightwood," he said. Alec wasn't sure how someone could say one name with so much contempt. "We'll have a formal trial tomorrow in Idris. Until then, Jace Wayland will be held in the City of Bones where the Silent Brothers will watch over him."

Alec opened his mouth to disagree, but the Shadowhunters who were holding Jace back as well as Victor and Lydia were already walking off the stage.

"Jace!" Alec called out, and went to go after him, but was held back by Izzy.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked harshly, prying Izzy's hands off of him.

"Saving your ass," Izzy hissed, "There's nothing else you can do for Jace, and if you go against two of the most powerful members of the Clave, you'll end up right there next to him in the City of Bones. Is that what you want?"

Alec took a moment before shaking his head. Now that there was truly nothing else to be done, he felt the weight of what had just happened fall onto him. Izzy could clearly see how defeated he felt because she wrapped him up in another hug, murmuring that it would be alright.

They stayed there for a moment until both Maryse and Robert walked up to them. Alec broke away from his sister and cast a revolted look his mother's way.

"You did this. You sold Jace out," Alec hissed.

Maryse's lips were a thin line. "You were planning on ruining years of peace between us and the Downworlders. I did what I had to do."

"Peace?! We don't even communicate with them and turn a blind eye to them to getting murdered! You call that _peace_?"

Maryse didn't respond, so Alec continued to speak, "I can't believe you would betray our family like this."

"Jace is not blood," Maryse was quick to say, "Therefore he is not our family."

Alec saw red. His hands balled up into fists and he abruptly turned away from both his parents and Izzy.

"I can't be here right now," he said tightly, and hurried to the Institute's exit. He felt bad about leaving Izzy by herself, terrible, but he really couldn't be in that Institute for another moment. He would either do or say something that would get him into more trouble than what it was worth. Later that night, he would text Izzy and let her know where he had gone.

As soon as he walked out into the warm sunlight of the day, he felt a sense of dread wash over him, but he told himself to keep walking. He just hoped that Magnus would be home.

***

Magnus' first instinct was to be suspicious when he received a knock on his door in midday. He hadn't been expecting anybody, and with a Downworlder killer on the loose, you could never be too cautious.

He looked through his peephole and felt himself physically calm when he saw it was only Alec and not, like, a ravenous demon.

"Alec, this is unexpected," he greeted enthusiastically as he opened the door. He then saw the defeated look Alec was wearing and felt himself sober as he asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Alec was staring intently at Magnus' rug. "I — I guess not? Definitely not."

Magnus frowned at the response and ushered Alec into his loft, gently closing the door behind him. He rested one arm on Alec's arm and the other on his cheek.

"What's going on?" He asked softly.

Alec shook his head, leaning into Magnus' touch and closing his eyes. He looked exhausted, probably close to how Magnus himself looked.

"It's family stuff. I can't — I can't talk about it in too much detail. I hope that's okay," Alec murmured.

"Of course it is. You don't have to talk about it at all, if you don't want to."

Alec opened his eyes again, and for the first time that night, he really looked at Magnus.

"You're not wearing any makeup," he noticed, and a part of Magnus froze until Alec's lips were forming a small smile, "It's nice. I mean, you look good _with it_ , too, but. Both are... _nice_."

Magnus let out a breath. "You're too kind, Alexander," he said, partly teasing, partly honest. "Here, I know exactly what you need. Follow me."

He took Alec's hand in his and lead him through the living room until they reached Magnus' bedroom.

Alec's lips parted. "Are you insinuating that I need se—"

"No!" Magnus interjected. "Oh my god, no, I would never take advantage of your vulnerable emotional state like that. I just...no offense, but you look exhausted. I thought you might like some tea and to lay down in a comfortable bed. You don't have to, if you feel like it's too much or—"

"Oh, no, that...that sounds great, actually. Do you have any clothes I could change into?"

Magnus' mind immediately went to all of the exotic silks that he could get Alec in, all of the different patterns and colors. He licked his lips and went over to one of his dressers to try and rid his mind of the thought.

"Sweats and a t-shirt alright?" He asked, even though the thought of giving up his fantasy of Alec in nice, expensive silks physically pained him.

"Yeah, that's good."

Magnus laid the clothes on the bed, just a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants, and walked over to Alec to give his hand a small squeeze.

"Make yourself comfortable, okay? I'll be back with tea in a few minutes," Magnus said, and was about to walk out of the room when Alec stopped him.

"Magnus, you don't have to do this," he told him quietly.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Do what? Make you tea?"

Alec huffed out a laugh, but it didn't sound like there was much humor behind it. "No, the tea is fine. I just meant...you don't have to look after me like this, or take care of me, if you don't want to."

Magnus' face softened as he held onto both of Alec's hands. Those words were crushing his heart. Was it so hard for Alec to believe that someone could want to look after and care for him?

"Hey, I'm doing this because I want to. Not because I feel obligated to or anything like that."

"Okay," Alec whispered, and there was a small smile on his lips as Magnus placed a quick kiss to them.

"I'll be back soon with tea," he repeated, and this time he was able to make it out of the room.

He pondered for a moment if he should magic up the tea, but he ultimately decided against it. One, he felt too tired for even the slightest of magic, and two, he doubted the tea he magicked up would be as good as his own.

There were hundreds of different types of tea in his cabinet, but he opted on a simple green tea for Alec. Magnus was a strong believer that one could never truly go wrong with green tea.

Once the tea was finished brewing and Magnus had it all fixed up, he headed back into the bedroom.

The sight he was met with forced his breath into his throat. Alec was sitting cross-legged on Magnus' bed, his back resting against the headboard as he tapped away at his phone. He had changed into Magnus' clothes, and although the size difference between the two wasn't huge, it was clear by the way the black t-shirt clung to Alec's shoulders and chest that he probably could have used a size larger than what Magnus had given him. Magnus' eyes wandered downwards and he noticed that the shirt also clung to Alec's stomach, making his abs practically visible beneath the thin black fabric, which was...interesting.

Yes, Magnus had said that he wouldn't take advantage of Alec's vulnerable state, and he had meant that, but he still couldn't help but admire the glorious sight that was Alec in Magnus' clothes.

Alec placed his phone on the nightstand next to him and smiled at Magnus, breaking Magnus out of his stupor. He smiled back and walked over to sit on the opposite side of Alec.

He then handed over the mug. "Green tea. I hope you like it."

Alec took it from him, his hands lingering over Magnus' for a second as he did. "Thank you," he murmured, and blew on it before taking a sip.

Magnus closed his eyes as he felt the exhaustion from the past couple of weeks wash over him. It felt good just to lie down and rest his muscles.

When he opened his eyes back up, he saw that Alec was already looking at him from the rim of his mug.

"Tell me about your day," Alec said, "Or your week, or — or anything."

Magnus smiled at the suggestion. It was sweet that Alec wanted to know.

"It's been a rough one. Just...all these things going on at once, you know?"

Alec nodded. "I understand." He then brushed his fingers softly under Magnus' eyes, causing Magnus' lashes to flutter at the unexpected touch. "You look tired."

"I was actually just about to lay down for a nap before you came."

"Really? I didn't take you as the napping type."

Magnus chuckled. "I'm usually not. But these past couple of weeks seemed to have drained the life from me."

Alec raised an inquiring eyebrow, but he didn't say anything, probably not wanting to pry.

Magnus figured he could give him the basics.

"There's been fighting at my work. We're at a place where we should all be working together, but instead some people have just stopped showing up to the meetings at all. I mean, I can't really blame them, we've been having security issues lately and they're probably just scared, but..."

"Security issues?" Alec asked, his eyebrows drawn and his lips pulled down in a frown. "Will you be okay?"

Magnus smiled. The concern on Alec's face and in his voice had his heart beating in overtime, but he tried to play it cool.

"You're quite cute when you're worried," Magnus told him, taking pleasure in the light pink that spread across Alec's cheeks. "But yes, I'll be fine. There's no need to worry about me."

Alec nodded. "Good," he whispered. He set his tea down on the night stand and then laid down next to Magnus so that they were face to face.

This close, Magnus could see all the different flecks of color in Alec's eyes, could see the slight scar he had on his left eyebrow. He wondered what the story was behind that.

"You should get under the covers. You might freeze to death," Magnus told him nonchalantly.

Alec snorted but did as Magnus said, pulling the dark red covers tightly over himself. For a while they just laid there, admiring the peace and quiet and each other, until Alec let out a yawn.

"Are you a big spoon, or a little spoon?" Magnus asked him.

Alec shook his head. "I've never, um. You know."

"Spooned? Okay. Let me put it like this. Do you want to hold, or be held?"

Alec looked slightly sheepish, though he definitely was not uncomfortable. If anything he looked eager.

"We could, I, um. I could try being the little spoon, maybe."

Magnus had to hide his smile in his pillow. Dear lord, this boy was cute.

"Okay, turn on your side for me, babe," Magnus told him.

Alec once more did as he said, and Magnus moved so he was also on his side, his chest pressed against Alec's back. He moved his arm so it was wrapped around Alec's waist and so his hand was rested on Alec's stomach. He then put one of his legs between Alec's so that they were twined together, drawing them even closer together.

"This okay?" Magnus asked, his words moving against the soft skin of Alec's neck.

Magnus thought he heard Alec's breath hitch, and when he responded with a simple, "Yes," his voice was breathy.

"Good. Get some sleep."

"You too," Alec murmured.

Magnus smiled, and within a span of minutes, they were both asleep.

***

Alec ended up deciding on spending the night at Magnus'. Magnus had offered, and Alec honestly hadn't felt like going home yet. After their nap, Magnus had made them dinner, and they had curled up on the couch to watch tv.

Once Alec had finished his dinner, it had hit him that in just a few hours he would be in Idris, watching a bunch of higher-ups determining the fate of his parabatai, his brother.

His breath caught in his throat and his heart started beating faster. He had to put his plate down as he tried to even out his breathing.

Magnus clearly recognized the state he was in because he reached out to take Alec's hands in his, his lips turning down into a concerned frown when he felt that they were shaking.

"Hey, talk to me," he said softly.

Alec shook his head. "So much is happening tomorrow, and I just. I don't know if I can do it. I might never see my brother again."

Magnus was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Alec, I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I already know that you're so strong. If anybody can make it through whatever it is you're going through, it's you."

Alec looked over at Magnus and saw on his face that he was being nothing but genuine. It caused his heart to soar, and he leaned over to press a lasting kiss to Magnus' lips.

"Thank you," he told him. It hit him that if it weren't for Magnus, Alec would most likely still be at the Institute, probably shooting arrows until his hands bled. It was how he usually coped with issues he couldn't find a solution to, even though it often times did very little to help.

He was just...glad to have Magnus, almost overwhelmingly so. It seemed to hit him all at once, and when he felt his breath once more slip away, it was for completely different reasons.

"I'm really glad that I met you," Alec confessed quietly, "You're...I feel like you're the only normal aspect of my life right now."

Magnus' lips turned up in a soft smile and he let go of Alec's hands in favor of wrapping his arms around Alec's waist, his head resting in the crevice between Alec's neck and shoulders.

"I feel the same way," he whispered.

Alec smiled and he wrapped an arm around Magnus' side so he could meld more smoothly against Alec's side.

Sure, he didn't feel one hundred percent better, but Magnus had helped him feel like he could at least make it through the day.

He rested his head against Magnus' and focused back on the tv.

***

Alec left Magnus' early the next morning. Magnus had told him to check in with him when everything was settled and Alec had promised that he would, then he'd left.

Currently he was in the portal room, dressed in his best suit, with Izzy by his side. She was in a long, sleeveless blue dress, her hair down and straightened.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Alec asked. They should have been here by now if they were going with them to Idris.

Izzy frowned. "Aldertree only requested that you and I come, so Mom and Dad aren't going."

"What?!" Alec exclaimed, his heart sinking to his stomach. "Why? That doesn't even—"

"I don't know," Izzy said, her face taut. "But they clearly don't think of Jace as their son anyways, so I doubt they mind."

Alec thought back to Maryse coming right out and saying that Jace wasn't her son because he wasn't blood, but instead of getting mad, he reached down and took Izzy's hand in his. Not for the first time, he was so glad to have his little sister in his life.

"You ready?" He asked her.

"As I'll ever be," she responded.

They both thought of Idris and then walked through the portal together.

***

They arrived directly outside of the courthouse.

Alec took a deep breath, remembering Magnus' words to him last night.

He was strong. He could do this.

With that thought in mind, he pushed open the door to the courthouse, and...gaped.

It was empty. Well, mostly empty. Alec had been expecting the rows of seats to be filled with important Shadowhunters and Clave members, but they were completely desolate. The only ones were in the room were Victor, two Silent Brothers, Jace, and the soul sword towards the front of the room.

"Ah, Lightwoods! We've been expecting you," Victor declared with a wide smile.

Alec looked over at Jace as walked to the front of the room, making sure that he was alright. He didn't look injured, just tired and tense, with both of the Silent Brothers holding onto his arms to make sure he didn't go anywhere.

"What's going on?" Alec asked once he and Izzy had made it to the front of the room, with Victor and the soul sword both in front of them. Jace was to their left as were the silent brothers. "Where are the other members of the Clave? The jury?"

Victor shook his head. "You're in luck. I'm in a good mood today, so I'm willing to work a compromise with the three of you," he said, "The Clave agreed that a trial and jury session isn't needed, as long as you go along with the compromise we made up."

"Which is?" Izzy asked.

"Two of you, and it's up to you to decide who, will be able to continue to have romantic relationships with Downworlders. The other will swear here on this soul sword that they will never be romantically involved with a Downworlder as long as they live."

"I'll do it," Alec said immediately.

"What?!" Izzy exclaimed at the same time Jace said, "Alec, man, you _can't_."

Alec shook his head. He wasn't understanding his siblings' hesitance.

"Why not? I'm not involved with a Downworlder, and I never have been. I make the most logical choice."

"And what if, sometime in the future, you _do_ meet a Downworlder, and the two of you fall in love? What happens then?" Izzy asked.

Alec opened his mouth to respond, but Jace beat him to it.

"You can't risk that just for us, Alec. It isn't fair to you."

Alec supposed a moment to weigh on the decision would be rational. He tried thinking of dating someone else in the future, a Downworlder, but all he could think about was Magnus. His smile, his laugh, the way he had held Alec last night and comforted him when he had started to get anxious.

The thought of dating someone else was...unimaginable to him. Not when what he felt for Magnus was so strong.

"I'm not worried about that. I have Magnus," Alec said, a small smile on his face at the thought.

"And, what, suddenly you guys are forever?" Jace asked.

Alec felt his cheeks flush at the thought. "Maybe not. But, right now, I can't even think of being with someone other than him. And...even if we do break up, I'll just steer clear of Downworlders. It's fine, you two. I'm perfectly alright with doing this."

He looked back at Aldertree and saw that he had an eyebrow raised.

"Did you say Magnus?" He asked.

Alec blinked. He hadn't been expecting the question. "Um, yes. He's my boyfriend. Why?"

"I used to know someone by the same name, a long time ago. I'm sure they're not the same person."

"Clearly," Alec said under his breath and then put his hands on the soul sword, feeling the familiar weight of it weight heavily on his heart. "Go ahead and ask your questions."

Victor nodded, the side of his mouth curled into a small smile as he asked, "Have you ever been romantically involved with a Downworlder?"

"No," Alec responded honestly.

"Have you ever been sexually involved with a Downworlder?"

Alec huffed. The personal nature of the question annoyed him.

"No."

"Do you have any intentions of going against the compromise the Clave has worked out for you and your siblings?"

"No."

"And, finally, do you swear on your life that everything you just told me is the truth?"

"Yes," Alec breathed, and then removed his hands from the sword.

He couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. It was over with. Jace would be able to stay in the Institute and keep his runes, and Izzy would be able to continue seeing Maia. Everything seemed like it had worked out for the best.

Victor began to walk out of the courthouse, but not before clapping Alec on the back.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again. You'll have to come back to Idris in a month to make sure that you kept your oath, but after that, you're free to go on with your life," Victor told him.

Alec nodded and watched as Victor walked out of the courthouse before focusing back on his siblings. He had expected them to look happy, maybe overjoyed, but instead they looked distressed.

"Guys, seriously, what is going on? I thought you'd be happy! Jace, you get to keep seeing that vampire boyfriend of yours, whatever his name is—"

"It's Simon."

"You get to keep seeing Simon, and Izzy, you can pursue your relationship with Maia..."

Izzy smiled up at him. "Of course I'm happy, Alec, and I'm sure Jace is, too. But I can't help feeling like our happiness is at your expense."

"It's _not_ ," Alec reassured, a genuine smile on his lips, "Both of my siblings are going to be happy, and _I'm_ happy with Magnus, _so_ happy—"

"Things are going pretty well between you guys, then?" Jace asked him, his lips quirking into a smirk.

Alec nodded. " _Really_ good. I've never...I've never felt like this before," he admitted quietly.

Jace patted him on the back before leading the way out of the courthouse. "We should get something to eat. I'm _starved_."

"Did they feed you in the Silent City?" Izzy asked him.

"Yeah, some nasty, sludge-type thing. I took one bite and nearly gagged."

"That must have been awful," Alec deadpanned.

Jace grimaced as he undoubtedly remembered the food. " _It was_. I'm so looking forward to having real food."

"I bet you're looking forward to seeing _Simon_ , too," Izzy teased, a wide, playful smile on her lips.

Jace rolled his eyes, but the small smile on his face betrayed his hard exterior. "I just can't believe that we don't have to hide it anymore. It seems...surreal."

"Same with me and Maia. We've only been dating for a couple of weeks but...I know she's going to be stoked when I tell her," Izzy said excitedly.

Alec smiled as he watched his siblings speak excitedly to one another. He didn't care about not being able to date a Downworlder: it seemed a small price for his siblings' happiness.

***

Once they had arrived back to the Institute, Izzy and Jace had both left almost just as soon to see Maia and Simon.

Even though things had been resolved with Jace, Alec still didn't feel like being with his parents alone in the Institute, so he went off to Magnus'.

Well. That wasn't the only reason why he was going over to Magnus': he also _really_ wanted to see him and tell him thank you for the night before.

He texted Magnus asking him if it was alright that he stopped over, and when he responded saying that it was, he took a cab over to his place.

He didn't know why, but he felt like the ride to Magnus' loft seemed to take forever. He desperately wanted to see him again, and other than to tell him thank you, he didn't really have any other solid reason...he just _did_. He hadn't ever felt this way about another person before.

Magnus buzzed him in and as soon as he opened the door, Alec felt his lips forming into a grin.

"Hey," Magnus greeted, "How'd it go?"

Alec took a step forward and locked his lips with Magnus', his hands coming up to cup both of his cheeks. Magnus let out of a muffled noise of surprise but then kissed him back just as passionately.

When Alec pulled away, he saw that Magnus' eyes remained closed for a second before opening to give Alec a wide eyed look.

He then chuckled breathlessly. "I'm guessing it went well?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, you...you really helped me get through the day, and I. I wanted to thank you. I don't know if I would've made it without your encouragement."

Magnus' expression softened and he took one of Alex's hands in his, leading him inside and over to the couch. He sat down on one side, his legs curled up beside him, and Alec toed off his shoes so he could sit down next to him and do the same.

"Continue," Magnus said, the smile never leaving his face.

Alec shook his head. "I don't...I don't know exactly how to put it, but you helped me make a really important decision."

Magnus quirked an inquisitive eyebrow. "Sounds interesting."

"Yeah," Alec laughed, "But it...it helped bring my brother home, so."

"I'm glad," Magnus breathed. He reached out to brush his fingers against Alec's cheek and Alec leaned into the touch, feeling his heart pick up pace in his chest. "I was worried about you."

The words made Alec think about Magnus' own problem at his job.

"How's your work issue?" He asked.

Magnus let out a huff. "Alright for now, I suppose, but who knows when it'll pick back up again. I'd rather not talk about it, because all it does is give me a headache."

Alec nodded, and Magnus gave him a curious look, leaning in a bit closer.

"Why exactly did you come?" He questioned.

Alec thought about how excited he had been just to be in Magnus' presence and felt his cheeks flush, embarrassed.

"I just wanted to thank you. In person," he said, his eyes fluttering down to Magnus' lips as he leaned in even closer.

"That's it?" Magnus asked lowly.

Alec felt like he wasn't breathing as he rasped out, "Yeah, it is."

"Hmm," Magnus hummed, "You could always... _show_ me your thanks. If you wanted."

Alec nodded and then he was quickly closing the rest of the distance between them. Their lips met in a desperate, messy kiss, and only a second later Magnus was lightly pushing at Alec's shoulders so his back was lying against the couch. He moved so his legs were straddling Alec's waist and Alec gaped, his breath catching in his throat at the beautiful sight of Magnus in front of him.

Magnus then leaned back down and reconnected his lips with Alec's in an open-mouthed kiss. His tongue slid into Alec's mouth and Alec moaned, his hands sliding around Magnus' neck to draw him closer. As Magnus deepened the kiss, their tongues brushing against each other, one of Alec's hands slipped under Magnus' shirt collar and he was immediately met with warm, soft skin.

It was a little dizzying how much Alec just wanted to _touch_.

Magnus broke the kiss and Alec's lips chased after his as he sat up. Magnus giggled at him and placed a hand on his chest to get him to stay down. Alec then watched in breathless anticipation as Magnus' hands went to the edge of his shirt and pulled it off, tossing the article of clothing somewhere behind him.

"Fuck," Alec cursed, because he couldn't help himself. Magnus was all chiseled abs, strong biceps, smooth skin, and he was _right there_.

Magnus grinned. "You seemed as if you wanted to touch," he whispered, "So go ahead."

He took Alec's hands in his and placed them on his waist. Alec kept one grasping onto Magnus' waist as the other moved slowly down Magnus' chest, not stopping until he reached where Magnus' pants began.

Magnus' breath hitched audibly and Alec smiled, pleased to see that he wasn't the only one who was being affected by this.

He then flipped them around so that he was the one on top and Magnus raised his eyebrows at him in both surprise and interest.

"You're beautiful," Alec told him, and he reconnected their lips for a brief moment before working his way down Magnus' jawline and neck. His skin was unbelievably smooth against Alec's lips and it made him want to keep kissing him, always, everywhere.

Magnus brought his hands up to Alec's hair and lightly tugged on it, causing Alec to back away, meeting Magnus' wide brown eyes.

"I've wanted to see you shirtless since our first date," Magnus blurted out, and Alec let out a loud, genuine laugh, burying his head in Magnus' neck.

"You could have _said_ ," he told Magnus as he sat up.

"What was I supposed to say? Please take your shirt off because I have a desperate need?" Magnus teased.

Alec's hands grasped at the edge of his shirt and he crossed his arms as he pulled the shirt over his head. He was suddenly immensely glad that he had remembered to glamor his runes before stopping over to Magnus', because that would have made for an awkward conversation.

"Was it worth the wait?" Alec asked, his lips quirking into a cocky smirk at the way Magnus was blatantly checking him out.

"More than worth it," Magnus breathed, and then he was pulling Alec back down so their lips could meet together in a heated kiss.

Their bare chests pressed together as they kissed and Alec shivered, but he wasn't cold: far from it. He felt like he was burning all over and each drag of Magnus' lips against his own sent sparks of flames dancing throughout his body.

He wanted _more_. He hadn't ever gone this far with another person before, but if he was going to, there was no other person he trusted more than Magnus.

Alec broke the kiss to lightly nuzzle against Magnus' cheek. His heart was beating out of his chest at what he was about to say, but he figured it had to be said.

"I've never," he started, and paused a moment, trying to catch his breath, "I've never done this before," he admitted quietly.

Magnus scooted upwards and gave Alec a surprised look. "You mean you're—"

"A virgin," Alec finished, "Yeah. When I told you I hadn't had time for dating with my job, I also hadn't...I hadn't really had time for the other stuff, either."

Magnus still looked somewhat shocked, but he then nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Hey, it's fine. We don't have to do anything—"

"No!" Alec interrupted quickly, and felt his cheeks flush. "I want to. With you."

"Yeah?" Magnus asked in surprise.

Alec nodded, his eyes flickering down to Magnus' lips for a brief moment. They were pink and swollen from all of the kissing they had just done.

"If...if it's going to be with anyone, I want it to be with you," Alec admitted, "I trust you."

Magnus gaped at him before pressing a languid kiss to Alec's lips, one that had Alec's heart fluttering softly in his chest.

"Do you want to take this to the bedroom?" Magnus whispered against his lips.

Alec nodded, probably too enthusiastically, and Magnus smiled at him before they were both hurriedly making their way to the bedroom.

***

"Tell me about your travels," Alec whispered quietly, not wanting to disrupt the sereneness of the moment.  
  
He was lying with Magnus in his bed, Magnus' head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around Alec's bare chest. The sun had long gone down, and the only light in the room was the moon peaking in through the window.

Magnus looked up at him and let out a soft chuckle. His fingers were lightly tracing patterns on Alec's skin in a way that had goosebumps forming all over.

"I've been lots of places," Magnus murmured, the quietness of his tone matching Alec's own, "Anywhere in particular you want to know about?"

Alec thought about it for a second. "Tell me your top ten," he decided on.

Magnus groaned, burying his face in Alec's neck before pressing soft kisses to the skin.

Alec shivered.

"That's _hard_. There's so many beautiful places in the world," Magnus said, "I really like India, even though I had an abusive girlfriend who used to live there which...left me with a rather bad memory of it there, to say the least."

"I'm sorry," Alec said.

"Don't be, darling. It's not your fault."

Alec's cheeks flushed at the pet name, and he was secretly pleased that it was dark in the room so Magnus couldn't see his wide smile.

"Brazil is also amazing, Tokyo, Barcelona, oh! And Paris. I know that makes me sound like your typical romantic, but it really is called the City of Love for a reason. Something about being there just...makes you realize how much you care about the people around you — _especially_ if they're a significant other," Magnus said, following the words with a kiss to Alec's jaw.

Alec turned his head so his lips met with Magnus', even though he was smiling far too much for the kiss to be anything proper. Magnus telling him he cared about him just...made him unbelievably happy.

"I'd love to visit those places with you," he admitted.

"Yeah?" Magnus asked softly.

"Mhm. I've always wanted to travel but I never had the chance. Sometimes I...I worry that life is going to pass me by without ever having had a chance to see the beauty of the world."

Something in Magnus' expression shifted and he quickly shook his head, one of his hands coming up to cup Alec's cheek.

"That's not going to happen," he assured. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go. You said you wanted to go to England, right? Where Shakespeare grew up?"

Alec nodded, surprised that Magnus had remembered.

"Then we'll go there. And to Paris, too, while we're in the area."

Alec smiled. He was sure his heart was about to soar out of his chest.

"Is that a promise?" He asked, teasing, but also somewhat serious.

Magnus gave him an affronted look. "Of course it is, Alexander. I would never lie to you," he told him, and then locked their lips together in a sweet kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaayyy, part 2!! I can't believe this story has come to an end, I've been writing it since December and I had the idea even longer before that, so it's really crazy to me! 
> 
> Also, just as a disclaimer, I totally made up how the Forsaken are created just for the sake of this fic. I'm sure it's different in the show/books.
> 
> I hope you enjoy part 2! Your feedback on part 1 meant so much to me :)
> 
> Oh and I forgot to mention: the title of the story comes from the song Secrets by The Weeknd!

Two things happened at once that sent the Downworld into an uproar.

One: news got out that the Clave had agreed that two of the Shadowhunters in the Lightwood family could continue to date two Downworlders (Simon and _Maia_ , which had come as a shock to Magnus. Well, Maia had. Simon not so much.) as long as the third Lightwood never so much as thought about being with a Downworlder. That had resulted in much anger from the community, seeing as how the Clave hadn't even thought of consulting with any of the Downworlders before making their decision, and the heads of the Downworld (namely Lily, Raphael, Meliorn, Ragnor, and Luke) had declared a meeting with the Lightwood who had sworn off Downworlders. Magnus hadn't caught his name because he was too wrapped up in the second thing that had happened: a seelie had been murdered, drained for blood.

As soon as _that_ news had hit, Magnus had been quick to act. He called all of the warlocks that he knew in the area and invited them to stay at his loft, as a way of protecting them. He'd had to call Alec and tell him that he would be out of town for the next week or so on business, which he hated to do, but he couldn't very well have him showing up to a loft full of warlocks.

Luckily, many warlocks had answered his call. Magnus greeted them all kindly as they poured into his loft.

He winked at Catarina as she walked into the room, and then Dot, and then Elias. He made sure to tell Elias how youthful he was looking, which was enough to warrant a glare from the other warlock.

"Very funny, Magnus," he told him.

"I'm being nothing but honest!" Magnus exclaimed, his hands going up in indignation.

He was brought out of his conversation when he felt a small hand tugging on the bottom of blazer. He looked downwards and felt himself break into a large smile.

"Zoe, my dear, it's _so good_ to see you again," he gushed, kneeling down so he could wrap the little girl up in a hug. "How have you been?"

"Okay," Zoe said, her smile matching Magnus'.

"Yeah? I'm happy to hear it," Magnus said, very seriously, and Zoe burst into giggles. "And how about your lovely mother? Is she here?"

Zoe nodded. "She's in the kitchen, I think."

"I'll have to say hello to her." Magnus then checked the time on his phone and sighed when he saw it was just about time to go to the Hotel Dumort for the meeting with the Shadowhunter. "Well, when I get back, that is," he sighed.

"You're leaving?" Zoe asked.

"Only for a little while," Magnus told her, "I have an important meeting to attend. I'm putting you in charge while I'm away, Zoe. Think you can handle it?"

"Of course I can," Zoe said confidently, her smile radiant.

Magnus gave her another tight hug before waving goodbye and going to find Catarina. He told her where he was going and asked her to look after the place while he was gone, which Catarina told him she would do.

Magnus then locked the door behind him and thought to magic up a protective ward before he left. One could never be too safe, even if wards did tend to take up quite a bit of magic.

He texted Ragnor that he was on his way and started the walk to the Hotel.

However, he only made it a few feet before he saw something strange: a ravener demon, right there in the middle of the road, just...standing there.

Magnus wasn't too worried. He had taken out plenty of demons in his time, and with a wisp of magic around the vile creature's throat, it was gone.

Magnus picked up his pace as he continued his walk. It wasn't every day you saw a lone demon in the middle of the road, and raveners tended to hunt in packs, which meant...

Abruptly, Magnus came to a stop. There, a few miles up the road, was an entire pack of raveners, and they were all heading towards Magnus. He would be able to hold them off for a little while, but what happened when his magic ran out? Or if they overpowered him?

Magnus got his phone out with one hand, the other conjuring up blue sparks of magic.

There was only one person he could call.

***

Alec hadn't been surprised to be called into a Downworlder meeting. Izzy and Jace had been quick to offer to join him, but Alec had turned them down. If the Downworlders wanted to see Alec and Alec only, then that was how it would be.

Still, he couldn't help feeling anxious as he walked into the Hotel. What if the Downworlders didn't approve of the arrangement? What if they prohibited Simon and Maia from seeing Jace and Izzy, despite the Clave's wishes? What if Alec's sacrifice would be for nothing?

He looked around the room as he walked inside and was surprised to see so little Downworlders inside the room. He recognized Lily and Luke, but there were two other men whom he had never seen before. One was clearly a Seelie, based off of his ears and whimsical aura, and the other was presumedly a warlock.

"Alec Lightwood," he introduced, sticking out his hand, and the warlock gave him an unimpressed look without taking it.

Alec bit his lip and took his hand back. He looked to the Seelie to see if it would do any good to introduce himself to him, but he wasn't even looking at him.

"Alec," Lily greeted, her lips forming into an icy grin, "We've got to stop meeting like this."

Alec felt his stomach sink. "Lily, I—"

She held up a hand to stop him. "I'm not in the mood for any more apologies. Did you know about the illicit affair your brother was having with one of our vampires when I met with you?"

"Yes," Alec said, figuring there was no point in denying it now, "I had just found out that same day. But I...I couldn't risk telling you. You have to understand, Jace could have been deruned, or left to spend his entire life in prison—"

"No, I think _you_ need to understand," Lily interrupted, "Whatever could have happened to your brother? It would have been ten times worse for Simon if it got back to him. He could have been _killed_. Did you ever think about that?"

Alec winced. He shook his head, averting his eyes to the floor.

"I didn't think so," she sneered, "I'm going to find Raphael so we can get this meeting started."

With those words, she walked off, disappearing deeper into the Hotel.

"Speaking of getting this meeting started," the warlock said, "Where is—"

He was interrupted by his phone ringing, which he was quick to answer. "There you are. Where _are_ you? This is more than just fashionably late."

Alec watched as the warlock's face fell. "Where are you?" He repeated, this time with much more urgency.

"What's going on?" Alec asked, looking over at the Seelie and Luke, but they both seemed just as clueless as him.

"I'll be right there, just...just hold on, old friend. And hang up the damn phone, you need to be focused."

With that, the warlock hung up the phone and abruptly stood up.

"Ragnor—" Luke started.

The warlock, Ragnor, shook his head. "I have to get to him. He said there's an entire pack of ravener demons, and they're all heading for him."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go," Alec hesitantly spoke up.

The look Ragnor leveled him with was one of absolute disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me. My best friend for centuries is in danger and you're—"

"Hear me out," Alec pleaded, "The demons are probably going after him because he's a warlock, and that's the last breed of Downworlder they need. It wouldn't make sense to send another warlock straight to them."

Ragnor shook his head. It was clear he knew Alec had a point. "Then who do you suppose we send?"

"I'll go," Alec said, "I've been trained to kill demons all of my life, and I have both my seraph blade and my bow on me. It's...it's the least I could do."

Ragnor looked over at Luke and the Seelie, who both nodded. He then pointed a finger at Alec, his voice low as he said, "You better bring my best friend to safety."

Alec nodded once in confirmation and Ragnor told him the address that his friend was at. That was all Alec needed before he was hurrying out of the Hotel. He made sure to activate his stamina rune and then he was running, not thinking about anything but getting to the warlock in time.

Once he made it to the scene, his mouth dropped. He had never seen anything like this before. Ravener demons were absolutely surrounding the warlock from all sides. Although Alec couldn't make out his face, he could see wave after wave of blue magic pouring out of the warlock's hands as he demolished the demons. He looked like he could handle himself, but Alec knew that magic could be used up, and his undoubtedly would be if he had to kill all of these demons by himself.

Alec drew his bow and arrow and immediately began aiming at any demon that made its way a little too close to the warlock. As he walked closer, he disposed of his bow in favor of his seraph blade, stabbing at demons left and right. They had clearly noticed him by now, even though the warlock hadn't yet.

His back was to Alec, but when Alec saw a demon advancing rapidly to the warlock's left, he yelled, "On your left!"

The warlock sent a blast of magic to his left without even sparing a glance, but he didn't need to. He hit the demon where it needed to be hit, and it dissolved into ash.

That must have been when the warlock realized he wasn't alone because he quickly spun around, and that was when the entire Earth seemed to freeze.

Because the man he was facing wasn't just some nameless warlock.

It was Magnus.

"Magnus," Alec breathed.

"Alec?!" Magnus exclaimed.

Alec couldn't move, couldn't focus. He had been told plenty of times when he was younger that emotions were nothing but a distraction, but it was only now that he truly believed it.

How was he supposed to concentrate on the demons surrounding them when Magnus was a _warlock_? A _Downworlder_?

He couldn't...

"Did you come here to help me or did you come to stand there?" Magnus asked, although Alec could see that his eyes were trained on Alec's runes and blade.

Alec let out a breath and swiftly stabbed a ravener on his right side. It had gotten close, _too_ close, all because Alec had let his emotions get in the way.

He noticed that Magnus' magic had shifted from blue to a yellow/orange and wondered what that meant, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it. There were only about ten demons left, but they were putting up a fight.

Alec was only a couple of feet away from Magnus now. He was preoccupied with a demon that just did _not_  want to die when he heard Magnus urgently call his name.

Alec hurriedly looked over at him and noticed that he wasn't using his magic anymore.

"What is it?" He asked, taking a step away from the demon.

"I'm all out of magic," he said, his own voice disbelieving.

Alec nodded and switched from his seraph blade to his bow, in order to get to the few remaining demons that were surrounding Magnus.

"Stand still, okay?" Alec asked.

He saw Magnus swallow before he was nodding. Alec raised his bow, aimed, and shot down two of the demons that had been getting closer and closer to Magnus. There was only one demon left and Alec squinted as he prepared to make the shot. This demon was faster-moving than the others had been, probably because it realized that it was the last one to get the job done.

Just as Alec released his arrow, he heard Magnus frantically shout his name and then there a blur of orange and yellow to his right. Alec abruptly turned to his right and saw that the demon who hadn't been wanting to die _hadn't_ died, and he had been about to sting Alec with his stinger when Magnus had killed him with his magic.

Alec looked over at him, his mouth gaping. "I thought you were out of magic," he said.

"I thought I was," Magnus breathed.

Alec then realized how weak Magnus looked and hurried over to his side, his arms wrapping around his waist right as Magnus collapsed against him.

"Hey, hey, Magnus, stay with me," Alec pleaded desperately.

Magnus looked up at him, but his eyes were unfocused and somewhere else. "You're a Shadowhunter," he uttered, before he promptly passed out from overexertion.

***

Magnus woke up in his own bed, with one of the worst headaches he'd ever had in his life. It didn't even begin to compare to any of the hangover headaches he'd had during his many centuries of existence: it was worse.

He opened his eyes and saw that Alec was sitting in a chair next to Magnus' side of the bed, one that he had probably pulled up so he could watch over Magnus. Right now, his head was in his hands, and he looked deeply troubled.

"Hey," Magnus whispered, his voice raspy.

Alec abruptly looked up, reaching out to take Magnus' hand in his own. His eyes were filled with worry as he said, "Hey, are you...are you okay?"

"Well, I'm alive," Magnus said, leaving his words open-ended. He stretched and was pleased to feel that his body wasn't in too much pain; just his head. "How long was I out?"

"A day," Alec told him quietly.

Magnus shot him a disbelieving look. "A _day_? You...you stayed here watching over me for an entire day?"

Alec let out a huff. "I wasn't about to leave you by yourself."

"I'm in a house full of warlocks," Magnus deadpanned.

"Still," Alec murmured, his shoulders moving in a sheepish shrug, "I could...I could go, if that's what you want."

Magnus tightened his grasp on Alec's hand. " _No_ , that's not what I want. Not at all."

Alec looked down at their joined hands and he seemed as if he was about to smile, but then his face contorted into a pained expression.

"Magnus, I — I can't do this," he choked out, withdrawing his hand from Magnus'. "Maybe I _should_ leave..."

"Why?" Magnus asked, sitting up in his bed. He ignored how much his head was protesting him. "Because I'm a warlock? A Downworlder?"

"Yes," Alec said, and Magnus gaped at his bluntness, but then Alec was letting out a curse and shaking his head, "But not...that's not the _only_ reason why, there's more to it, I promise."

Magnus shook his head. He admittedly wasn't expecting much from Alec's response. If anything it would be a half-assed excuse that translated to Alec not wanting to be with him just because he was a Downworlder.

"My full name, it's. It's Alec Lightwood."

Magnus' eyes went wide in recognition. _Oh_. Alec was the Lightwood who had sworn off Downworlders.

"Alec—" he started, but Alec interrupted him, a small, self-depreciating smile on his lips.

"I didn't know," he said, and then, quieter, "I didn't _know_."

"It's okay," Magnus assured, "I get it. You made the choice to protect your siblings. I would do the same thing for the ones I love."

"I...I thought of you, when I did it. Remember when I told you that you had helped me make an important decision? That was it," Alec murmured.

Magnus couldn't help but inquire further. His interest was peaked. "How did I help you?" He asked.

Alec gave him a look that clearly said, 'Isn't it obvious?'

"I couldn't see myself being with anyone other than you for...a long time," he admitted. Magnus' eyes went wide at the confession but then Alec shook his head. "But it doesn't matter now. None of it does."

"Don't say that," Magnus whispered, taking Alec's hands back in his, "You still matter to me. _This_ matters to me."

Alec removed his hand from Magnus' and stood up from his chair, even though it looked like it was killing him to do so.

"There can't _be_  a this!" He exclaimed sadly. "I swore on my life that I wouldn't ever be with a Downworlder, romantically or sexually, and I've broken both of those promises now. I...I'm going to have to plead to the Clave that I didn't know about you being a warlock, and who even _knows_ if they'll believe me. And if they don't believe me, then who knows what they'll do to my siblings, or to Simon and Maia..."

Alec had begun to pace around the room, his hands pulling at his hair. It was a painful sight to see. Magnus stood up and walked over to him, placing his hands on his shoulders to stop his pacing.

"You didn't have to get up," Alec said miserably.

"It's okay, I feel fine," Magnus responded, which was mostly the truth. "But, Alec, darling, listen to me. Even...even if we can't be together, things are going to work out for you. I know they will."

Alec closed his eyes and took a breath. "Warlocks can't predict the future," he whispered.

"Hm, maybe not. But I have a good feeling about yours, okay?"

When Alec opened his eyes and looked down at him, Magnus realized how close they were. It caused his heart to ache in his chest and his breath to hitch in his throat.

"I don't want to leave you," Alec confessed quietly, like he shouldn't have been saying the words. "I really...I _like_ you. A lot."

Magnus' face softened and he moved forward, his arms wrapping around Alec's waist and his head resting on Alec's shoulder. "I like you, too. Quite a lot."

Alec hugged him back tightly, and Magnus thought he felt him press a kiss to the top of his head.

"Is one more kiss off the table?" Magnus asked.

Alec backed away and paused for a moment, clearing determining if that would be okay, before abruptly shaking his head.

"Oh, screw it, I don't care if it is," he said, and then Alec's hands were cupping his cheeks and his lips were clashing forcefully with Magnus' own.

Magnus hummed in surprise but then his hands were reaching out to hold onto Alec's arms, his lips moving just as powerfully against Alec's own.

He didn't want this to be over. He hadn't felt like this in over a century, and now he would have to give up all of his feelings just because of a stupid deal the Clave had made.

Magnus slipped his tongue into Alec's mouth and felt the soft moan Alec breathed into the kiss. The kiss was rapidly becoming heated and messy as the two of them realized this would most likely be their last kiss.

"I'm sorry," Alec whispered against his lips, before leaning in for another, softer kiss.

"Don't be," Magnus murmured. He placed a hand on Alec's chest to stop him and gave him a small, sad smile. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

Alec swallowed and then he was gesturing to the door. "I should...go."

"You should," he agreed quietly.

Alec's eyes raked over Magnus' face as if he was trying to commit it to memory before abruptly walking out of the bedroom door and closing it behind him.

Magnus watched him go and then walked back over to his bed, plopping down onto it. He had felt plenty of heartbreaks in his lifetime, but he wasn't sure if they had ever felt quite like this.

***

Alec wasn't sure if he had ever felt this bad in his life. Not when his mom would scold him as a child for not perfectly landing his arrow in his target. Not when his dad had missed his first rune ceremony because "duty calls". _Nothing_ compared itself to the dull ache that had settled into Alec's chest and seemed set on staying there for quite some time.

He spent that first night in his bedroom, unable to even think about seeing or talking to anyone. All he could do was lie there, lost in his thoughts about what had happened, about what _would_ happen.

Alec would have preferred just staying there for the rest of his life and never moving again, but that next morning, there was a knock on his door.

Alec considered ignoring it, but then Izzy was walking into his room, her expression a mix of worry and anger.

"What the _hell_ , Alec? We haven't seen you in, like, two days! Mom was about to send a squad out to the Hotel Dumort to check on you, which you _know_ would have been disastrous," she said.

Alec grimaced. "You're right. I'm sorry." He wasn't in the mood for a fight, so he left it at that.

If Izzy wasn't worried before, she clearly was now. She walked over and sat on Alec's bed, her eyes roaming his face as she tried to find a hint of what was going on with her brother.

"What happened? I've never seen you like this before."

Alec considered, for a second, telling Izzy the truth. But then he realized he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell Izzy that Magnus was a warlock, or Jace, for that matter; it would do nothing but make them feel bad about their own relationships.

But he also couldn't keep laying here feeling sorry for himself.

So he sat up, shaking his head with a small, forced smile. "Sorry, the Downworld has been a mess lately. During my meeting at the Hotel, a warlock was surrounded by ravener demons, so I helped him kill them. I then spent the rest of the day looking after him."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "That was an awfully nice thing of you to do for a warlock you hadn't ever met before."

She sounded suspicious. Great, this was going to be harder than he had thought. Why did his sister have to be so smart?

"You know me, Mr. Nice," Alec said weakly.

Izzy narrowed her eyes at him, but before she could say anything else, Alec was standing up from his bed.

"Now, get up, I have a meeting with the Clave that I need to get ready for," Alec said, walking over to his closet to pick out what he was going to wear.

"The Clave?" Izzy asked as she stood up. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine, except for the fact that Downworlders are continuously getting murdered and the Clave isn't doing jackshit."

Izzy smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Since when are you so invested in the Downworld?"

Alec sent his sister a disbelieving look. "I'm not — it's — since they're getting _killed_ , Izzy. All of the Downworlders that I've met have been..." He trailed off as his mind filled with thoughts of Magnus. "Wonderful, kind-hearted people," he said softly, "They don't deserve to be treated like this."

"Well, then I wish you luck," Izzy told him genuinely. "If the Clave suggests sending Shadowhunters out to look for whoever it is killing the Downworlders, I'd be more than happy to help."

Alec smiled at his sister. " _Thank you_."

Izzy winked at him and then she was walking out of the room.

In actuality, Alec hadn't been planning on meeting with the Clave yet. However, if he wanted to take his mind off of Magnus, then what better way to do it than by helping out the Downworld? The issue had been bothering him for a while, but now he felt like he could really do something about it.

With that thought in mind, Alec shrugged off his shirt and began to change.

***

Catarina must have let Ragnor know that Magnus had woken up, because later that day, Ragnor was opening the door to Magnus' bedroom and stepping inside.

Currently Magnus was lying in bed, Catarina next to him and stroking his hair as he stared blankly ahead.

"What happened?" Ragnor asked worriedly.

Magnus gave him a miserable look. "You know Alec?"

" _Your_ Alec?"

Magnus shook his head, putting his head in his hands. He supposed Alec _wasn't_ his anymore.

"Not anymore," he murmured, "He's _Alec Lightwood_. I never...I never even knew that he was a Shadowhunter, and he clearly didn't know that I was a warlock."

"Wait, _that_ was him? The guy you've been seeing?" Ragnor asked, his jaw dropping open in surprise.

"You met him?"

Ragnor gave him a look that clearly said "seriously?". "Who do you think sent him to go save your ass?"

"Oh," Magnus said, because that made more sense than the scenario he had come up with in his head. He had just kind of assumed that, as a Shadowhunter, Alec had sensed the demons and come to help: not that he had already made it to the Downworlder meeting and Ragnor had sent him to help.

"Well, I suppose that's not the whole truth. He wanted to go."

"He did?"

"Yeah. Figured it was safer than sending me, which would have put another warlock in danger."

Magnus sighed and leaned back against Catarina, his head resting on her shoulder. "I can't _do_ this anymore," he whispered sadly.

"Do what, dear?" She murmured, her hands going back to play with his hair.

"This...this whole thing. I opened my heart up to Alec. It was the first time since Camille that I had been vulnerable to another person. And all I ended up with was yet another broken heart."

Before Catarina could respond, Magnus was shaking his head, "I'm sorry. I'm being selfish. My people are literally being hunted down and here I am, lamenting over a broken heart."

"Hey, you have every reason to be upset," Catarina told him sternly, "Getting your heart broken is painful. It always is."

Ragnor walked over and sat down on Magnus' side of the bed. "I just can't believe that the Shadowhunter I met was your boyfriend. I mean, I suppose it makes sense. He seemed your type."

"I don't have a _type_ ," Magnus disagreed.

"Hm, well, let's see. He was tall, handsome, innocence—"

"Definitely not innocent," Magnus intercepted, his lips quirking into a smirk at the unimpressed look that Ragnor leveled him with. "But, in all honestly, how...how was he? Did he act like he was superior to you just because he's a Shadowhunter? Because I swear, if he did—"

Ragnor interrupted, "No, he didn't act like that at all. I mean, he had that sort of cluelessness about the Downworld that all Shadowhunters have, but. He seemed nice. He even tried to shake my hand."

Damn it. Magnus had hoped that he'd been rude and treated the Downworlders as inferior — that way he would have been able to get over him easier.

"Of course he was," Magnus sighed, a small smile on his face as he thought of Alec. He then sat up, giving Ragnor a curious look. "Wait, what do you mean by he _tried_ to shake your hand? Did you not take it?"

Ragnor shrugged. "I hate Shadowhunters. It would have been going against my principles to take his hand."

Magnus couldn't help it. He burst into laughter at the thought of Alec, standing there, holding his hand out for Ragnor to take, and Ragnor just...staring at him. Catarina and Ragnor soon joined him in his laughter, and Magnus was overcome with happiness that, no matter what, he would always have his best friends by his side.

***

As soon as Alec had gotten to Idris, he'd gotten directions to Victor's office and walked straight inside. He didn't bother messing around with a fire message, or even with scheduling an appointment. He was tired of the constant delay. The Clave needed to do something, _now_ , and Alec was going to try and make that happen.

He ignored Victor's secretary frantically telling him that the meetings with Victor were appointment-only and shoved the door to his office open, abruptly walking inside.

Victor had been filling out paperwork at his desk. When Alec walked in, he looked up, his brown eyes going wide.

"Alec Lightwood. I wasn't expecting you. Did you have an appointment or—"

"No!" Victor's secretary exclaimed, giving Alec a dirty look.

Alec shared the sentiment with her.

"I didn't, but this couldn't wait. Something needs to be done about all the Downworlder deaths that have been happening recently. The longer nothing is done the more I believe that the Clave just doesn't care about the loss of these innocent lives," Alec said, his voice harsh.

Victor shrugged. "We've looked into it and found that there was nothing to be worried about. Whoever is going after the Downworlders doesn't seem to pose a threat to us Shadowhunters."

" _That's_ what you're worried about?" Alec exclaimed. "Our own safety?"

"Are you _not_ worried about our safety?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alec shook his head. He had to chose his next words carefully. He didn't want to say something that could be marked as treasonous just because he was impassioned.

"Of course I am. I'm just worried that once the last specie of Downworlder is killed, this person will go after the Shadowhunters next. I mean, they have to have a motive. If we can stop them before they kill another Downworlder, we can prevent them from coming after us."

That wasn't what Alec truly believed. Well, he believed that even the Shadowhunters weren't safe from this person, but that wasn't why he was here. He was here because he didn't want another innocent life to be taken.

Victor stood up, his signature, smug smirk present on his lips. "Alec, I can assure you, there's nothing to be worried about. And if you're concerned for the Downworlders, well, _don't be_."

"How can I not?" Alec asked softly. "They're _dying_."

Once again, Victor shrugged. "That's not our problem. In fact, it has nothing to do with us. Shadowhunters and Downworlders have not been involved in each other's affairs for centuries now. Just because things are going a little poorly for them at the moment does not mean we have to put our lives at risk and intervene."

Alec felt something inside him break as he realized Victor and the Clave truly weren't going to help, that they would _never_ help.

No wonder so many Downworlders hated the Shadowhunters. They didn't even care if the Downworlders lived or died, as long as they protected their own asses.

"Sorry for disrupting your paperwork," Alec said through gritted teeth, and made his way out the door, ignoring the pleasantries Victor aimed at him as he left.

Alec wasn't in the mood.

***

Defeated wasn't even close to how Alec felt as he walked back in the doors of the Institute. He was...devastated. Crushed, even. He still wanted to do something to help, but without the Clave behind him, what could he do?

He saw Izzy and went to go walk over to her, but to his surprise, she hurried over to Alec first.

"Alec, I just spoke to Mom," she said, her eyes wide and voice worried.

"About what?" Alec asked. "Iz, is everything alright?"

Izzy shook her head. "Another Downworlder was found, drained of blood. A warlock, this time."

And just like that, Alec felt his entire world come to a halt. He took a step back from Izzy in shock and then tried to even out his breathing, except...he _wasn't_ breathing.

"Did she tell you a name?" He asked his sister frantically.

"No, I'm sorry—"

"I — I have to...excuse me," Alec said, and then he was all but running to his bedroom.

What if it had been Magnus? He'd already had demons going after him before, so it wasn't a stretch to think they might have gone after him again.

Alec couldn't think as he blindly closed the bedroom door behind him and dialed Magnus' number with shaking hands.

He started pacing his room as the phone began to ring. Every ring without Magnus answering made the lump in his throat grow even deeper, made breathing even harder. His heart had fallen all the way to his stomach.

It _couldn't_ be Magnus. Even if Magnus wasn't his anymore, it didn't...it didn't _matter_. Alec couldn't imagine never seeing him again, or never hearing his voice again, his laugh.

He was just about to give up, maybe throw his phone across the room, when the ringing stopped, and there was a soft, "Alec?" on the other line.

Alec closed his eyes and held the phone closer to his cheek. Magnus was _alive_ , and the feeling of his phone against his skin was a physical reassurance of that.

He could breathe again, but barely.

" _Magnus_ ," he whooshed out, all of his emotions making themselves present in just that one word, "I was told that a Downworlder, a warlock, had been murdered, and I—"

"Oh, Alec, I'm alright," Magnus said softly, "I'm perfectly safe."

Alec drew a shaky breath. "I'm — I'm sorry. For your loss."

Magnus was quiet for a moment before saying, "Thank you. I tried so hard to prevent it from happening, but this person is smart. Cunning. There really wasn't anything I could do."

"I wish I could help," Alec admitted, "I tried going to the Clave to ask for their help, but they're just so..."

"Stuck up their own asses?" Magnus offered.

" _God_ , yes. I don't know how I never realized it before."

He heard Magnus hum into the phone. "You grew up thinking the Clave was everything. It's not your fault."

Alec walked over to his bed and laid down, closing his eyes as he listened to Magnus talk. It had only been a day, a _day_ , but Alec had missed the sound of his voice.

"Were you...close? To the warlock who was targeted?" Alec asked softly.

"Mm, not really. I knew of her, but we hadn't ever met. For some reason she refused to seek shelter at my place. Claimed she was _fine_ ," Magnus said, his voice both frustrated and exhausted, "I'm just...I'm _worried_. What happens now?"

Alec let out a breath. "I wish I knew. Just today I met with Victor, he's the head of the Clave—"

"I know Victor."

Alec paused at that. "You know Victor?"

"Unfortunately. We met maybe five years back. He came to my club—"

"You own a club?" Alec asked in disbelief.

Magnus chuckled. "I do. It's called Pandemonium."

"And you never took me?!"

"Alec, dear, it's a Downworlder club. You probably would have been traumatized."

Alec huffed, even though Magnus calling him 'dear' had his heart beating faster in his chest.

"So, Victor. Did you know him well?"

"No, not well at all. He came to my club disguising the fact that he was a Shadowhunter — this was before he was head of the Clave — and we had a drink or two. Then one of my friends told me who he was and I kicked him out. I still don't know if he was there to spy on the Downworld or just for leisure, but either way, I never saw him again."

Alec hadn't been expecting that, but he then remembered Victor telling him that he had once known a Magnus.

Had Victor known that Alec had been talking about the same Magnus he had once known? _Warlock_ -Magnus?

It wasn't like Magnus was the most common name in the world.

"He said that he knew you — when I was making the pledge to never be with a Downworlder. I told him I already had a boyfriend and told him your name. Do you think...do you think he _knew_?"

Magnus' voice was low as he said, "I wouldn't put it past him."

Alec shook his head. The thought made him sick to his stomach, but it also reminded him that, no matter how nice this conversation had been, he could never have Magnus.

"I should probably go," Alec murmured, even though it was the last thing he wanted.

"Yeah, me too," Magnus agreed.

It was quiet for about a minute and Alec checked to see if Magnus had already hung up, but when he saw that he hadn't, he put the phone back up to his face.

"If you or, any of the Downworlders, for that matter, ever need help," Alec whispered, "My siblings and I will be there for you. I know that's not offering a lot, but without consent from the Clave..."

"I understand," Magnus said softly, and Alec wondered if he was smiling, "I appreciate it, Alexander."

Alec's heart fluttered at the name and he threw his head back, wondering why the hell this was so hard.

"I'll...I'll talk to you later," Alec said.

"Yeah. Be safe."

"You too."

Alec heard the click that signaled the phone call had come to an end and stared blankly at his phone.

That was when Izzy walked into the room, her hands on her hips.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" She asked.

Alec didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with an angry Izzy after the day he'd had. He gave his sister a tired look.

"You're the smartest person I know, Izzy. Of course I don't think you're stupid."

"Then why are you hiding the fact that you're seeing a warlock from me?"

Alec abruptly sat up in his bed. He felt himself pale. "W-What? How did you...I'm not...Who told you?"

"No one told me! No one _had to_ tell me, because I'm smart and capable of putting the pieces together. First you rescue a warlock and spend the entire day with him while he recovers, then when you come home you're a _mess_ —

"Hey—" Alec protested weakly.

"You _were_. And finally I tell you that a warlock's been drained of blood and you run to your bedroom to call someone. I'm going to assume that you were just on the phone with the warlock you're seeing, based off of the miserable look on your face?"

Alec shook his head. "We're not together anymore," he rasped.

"What about Magnus? I thought things were going so well between you two."

Alec gave her a blank look.

" _Oh_. Oh, Magnus _is_ the warlock," Izzy said, the realization dawning on her face. "Why didn't you _tell us_? We never would have allowed you to—"

"I didn't _know_."

All of Izzy's resolve crumbled and she hurriedly walked over to sit next to her brother, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Alec rested his head on his sister's shoulder and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to get his emotions under control.

"Why didn't you tell me? Or Jace?" Izzy murmured.

"I didn't want you to feel bad about being with Maia, or for Jace to feel bad about being with Simon, just because of me. You two deserve to be happy."

"So do _you_ ," Izzy said earnestly.

Alec shrugged. "I will. Eventually. Just...it might take awhile."

"I'm so sorry, Alec."

"It's not your fault."

Izzy kissed his head, and they stayed there for a while, silently comforting each other.

***

About a week later, Izzy and Jace somehow talked Alec into joining in on a double date with the two of them, Maia, and Simon. Jace had claimed that it would allow him to "get to know them better", and Izzy had told him that it would "take his mind off of Magnus", which. Well. Alec didn't see that happening anytime soon, but he still agreed to go along on the date.

"Are you sure I won't be third-wheeling?" Alec asked as they made their way to the restaurant. It was a small mundane cafe within walking distance of the Institute.

"Bro, of _course_ not. Simon is, like, super excited to meet you. You're practically his hero," Jace told him.

Alec couldn't help letting out a quiet laugh. "Yeah? And why's that?"

"Because of what you did for us and for Izzy and Maia. Simon really appreciates it, obviously."

Alec's eyes fell down to the ground. Yeah, he supposed that made sense.

Still, the thought of that entire compromise did nothing but turn Alec's stomach.

He was quiet for the rest of the walk until they made it to the cafe. As soon as they walked inside, Simon was hurrying over to them, his hands coming up to cup up Jace's cheeks as their lips joined together in an eager kiss.

Alec had to look away, his cheeks heating up. Maia was next to walk over to them and only had to take one look at Jace and Simon before laughing.

"Dear Lord, you two act like you've not seen each other in years," she told them.

Simon sheepishly pulled away from Jace at the same time that Maia sweetly leaned in to kiss Izzy hello.

Alec was beginning to think this had been a bad idea. It wasn't that he didn't like seeing his siblings happy, _of course_ he liked that, but being surrounded by happy couples only a week after ending his own relationship? It wasn't easy.

"Alec, this is my boyfriend, Simon," Jace introduced, a wide smile on his lips.

Alec turned to face him and that was when he finally saw his face. "Oh. I know you," he said, "You're — you're Magnus' friend, right?"

He watched as realization dawned on Simon's face. "Yeah! And you're Magnus'..." He trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing. "But how does that..."

Alec shook his head, looking at Jace and then back at Simon pointedly. Simon, thankfully, seemed to get the hint.

"Well, it's good to see you again," Simon told Alec genuinely.

Alec nodded and was about to return the sentiment when Jace said, "Wait, you two have met before?"

"Yes," Alec and Simon said at the same time, and left it at that.

"Do you guys have a table?" Alec asked Maia and Simon, and the two of them led everyone over to where they were sitting.

***

Despite Alec's initial qualms, the dinner went by well.

It was nice getting to know Simon and Maia better. Yes, Simon talked a lot (something Jace often teased him about), but he seemed like a genuinely kindhearted person, and he clearly made Jace happy. Alec wasn't sure that he had ever seen Jace laugh or smile as much as he did when Simon made a joke or started rambling.

And Maia was _amazing_ , so witty and sharp. He had liked her when they'd first met, but he liked her even more when she was just being her genuine self: not trying to intimidate him or Izzy.

It was also nice to see that Simon and Maia seemed to be good friends. It made Alec wonder if Magnus was a part of their friend group, if they had ever hung out.

He wanted to ask, but he couldn't in front of Jace. Still, it made Alec's hands tingle with how much he wanted to inquire about Magnus, with how much more he wanted to learn about him.

There was so much he didn't know about him...that he might never have the chance to find out.

That was...a depressing thought. Here he was, wrapped up in thoughts about Magnus on the night he was supposed to be forgetting about him.

"You okay, Alec?" Izzy asked him, a kind smile on her lips when Alec glanced over at her. Her hand was intertwined with Maia's.

Alec nodded. "Yeah, I just...it's kind of hard, being surrounded by relationships when I'm not. Um. In a relationship myself."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jace said, holding up a hand, "You and Magnus broke up?! When?"

"Magnus?" Maia asked, her eyes going wide.

Damn it.

Why did Alec have to open his big mouth?

"About a week ago, it's not a big deal," Alec said quickly, even though it kind of felt like he was dying inside.

He didn't want Jace to feel bad or to ruin everyone's evening by being a downer.

He looked over at Izzy and Maia and saw that Izzy was whispering something to Maia, probably explaining Alec and Magnus' situation to her. Alec supposed that was fine, as long as she didn't say anything to Jace.

Based off of the sympathy-eyes Maia sent him once Izzy was done whispering to her, Alec figured that was exactly what they had been talking about.

Simon suggested they go to a cute little ice cream shop just down the street once they had all finished their meals, and everyone gave him a confused look.

"What?" He asked.

"You can't eat, babe," Jace told him, as if it were obvious.

Simon shrugged. "It was my favorite place before I got turned. It'd be nice to just...go there, you know."

The look on Jace's face after those words were said made it clear there wouldn't be any debating: they were going to that ice cream shop.

As they were walking out of the cafe, Alec asked how Simon had been turned, anyway, because he looked rather young.

He noticed the way Simon's face fell for a second and was quick to backtrack, saying, "Unless you don't want to talk about it. I'm — I'm sure it's personal."

"Oh, no, it's. It's okay," Simon assured, "I was with my friends Maureen and Clary, celebrating Clary's eighteenth birthday, and we just happened to go to Pandemonium. There was...a vampire there, and she was beautiful, like...absolutely stunning. She got me alone from my friends and made me think that she was interested. So I kept hanging out with her. She used encanto on me so she could suck my blood without me protesting."

Alec watched as Jace took Simon's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He hadn't ever seen his brother be so... _soft_ with another person before. It was nice to see.

"One day Raphael found out what Camille, that was her name, what she was doing, and he threatened to lock her up if she didn't stop. So she..." Simon trailed off. "Killed me. Claimed that it was so she wouldn't be tempted by me anymore."

"That's awful," Alec whispered.

Simon hummed. "She was an awful person," he agreed, "Raphael buried me and brought me back. He felt awful about it, that I didn't have a choice in the matter, but. There wasn't any way I could have consented. I was... _dead_."

Simon then plastered a smile onto his face. "But, either way, I'm happy to be alive. Well, alive-ish. Undead? Is that the term?"

"I think so," Maia said, and smiled when Simon gave her a finger gun.

"Honestly? The worst part is not being able to eat human food. I _hate_ blood," Simon complained.

"Tell me about it," Maia groaned, "I haven't been able to eat chocolate since I was turned."

Izzy gasped. "You can't eat chocolate?!"

When Maia shook her head, Izzy reached out to stroke her cheek, murmuring, " _Que lástima_."

Both of Alec's siblings were too wrapped up in their significant others to notice the three figures starting to emerge from the road up ahead. It was at that point of the night where it was practically impossible to see anything not right in front of you, but the streetlights made it possible for Alec to make out the figures.

He got out his bow on instinct, which caught everyone's attention.

"What are you doing?" Izzy asked him.

"Look straight ahead. What are those things?" Alec murmured, trying to make them out for himself.

"Alec, I'm sure they're just people out on a stroll. It's actually pretty nice out for a March night in New York City," Jace said.

Alec pursed his lips and gestured for everyone to stop walking. He got out his stele, activating his night vision rune, and...

Immediately took a step backwards. His mouth dropped open.

"Alec? What are they?" Izzy asked frantically.

Alec shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. They look like... _zombies_."

"Zombies?" Simon exclaimed, his face lighting up in a mixture of both fear and excitement.

"I mean, they're _not_ , but they're definitely not human. Their skin looks pale and sunken in, bruised, and...fuck. They're coming right towards us."

"What do we do?" Jace asked.

Alec drew his bow and arrow, his body taut. "We do the only thing we can. We fight."

Jace drew his seraph blade as Izzy's whip ran down her wrist, making its way to her hand. Alec looked over at Maia and saw that her eyes were glowing green, and Simon had his fangs out.

Alec focused back on whatever it was those creatures were and then released an arrow. It lodged itself in one of the creature's stomachs, and Alec expected it to cower, for its body to fall, but it...didn't even affect the creature. It actually _pulled the arrow out_ and kept walking.

"Shit," he hissed.

They were getting close now. It was clear that everyone could see the creatures now without having used a night vision rune.

"What if they can't be defeated? What if they're, like, invincible?" Simon asked.

Alec shook his head. "Now is _not_ the time to be thinking like that."

"Do you think they have to do with the Downworlders whose blood was drained?" Maia asked.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Izzy murmured.

As soon as the figures were only a few feet away, Alec watched as Maia shifted completely into wolf form and charged. That was all it took for Izzy to run after her, her whip lashing out to wrap around one of the creature's ankles. The creature stumbled, not fully falling over, but clearly distracted. Maia took this opportunity to attack, ripping into the creature like it was no one's business.

Alec focused back on the creature who was making its way toward him. He attempted shooting another arrow, this time in the creature's heart (if it had one), but as soon as the arrow was about to lodge itself in its chest, the creature caught the arrow.

It _caught_ the arrow.

It then snarled at Alec and began running over to him. Alec wanted to get out his seraph blade because clearly his bow and arrow wasn't doing much good, but he didn't have time. The creature had already advanced far too much on him.

Alec used his bow to hold some space between himself and the creature and then called out to Jace for some help.

Only a second later, Alec watched as a seraph blade lodged itself in the creature's stomach. The creature stumbled and turned around, diverting its attention from Alec to Jace. The arrow and blade must have done nothing but made the creature angry because, abruptly, it began swiping at Jace, snarling with blackened teeth at him.

Jace just narrowly avoided being hit, and he managed to get a couple of hits of his own in, but then Alec watched in horror as the creature kicked Jace in the stomach, forcing him to fall on his back.

Alec felt Jace's breathlessness from the force of the fall through his parabatai bond. The creature was clearly about to lay the final blow, his foot on Jace's chest to hold him down, when Alec snuck up behind him. He did the only thing he could think of in the moment: with his senses heightened from adrenaline, he reached out and snapped the creature's neck before it even knew that Alec was behind him.

The creature fell forward and Jace let out a disgusted noise, quickly rolling out of the way before the creature could fall on top of him. Simon then ran over to him, falling to his knees and cupping Jace's cheek.

"Are you okay?!" He asked, checking for any injuries.

Jace smiled at him, sitting up. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got kicked in the stomach." He then assessed Simon. "Are you okay? What happened to the third creature?"

Simon shrugged. "I encantoed him. He should be on his way back to his master to tell him to go straight back to hell where he belongs."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "That's kinda hot," he said, his voice low.

Alec shook his head with a smirk and made his way over to Izzy and Maia. They had torn the creature into pieces and were holding onto each other.

"You two okay?" Alec asked them.

They both nodded.

"Are you?" Izzy asked. "And Jace? And Simon?"

Alec smiled. "Yeah, we're all good. Jace received a blow but he'll be alright."

"I think I'm gonna go home," Maia murmured, "That was enough excitement for one night."

"I'll go with you," Izzy said quickly, "To, um, make sure you're alright."

Maia chuckled at her but didn't make any attempt to argue. They told Alec goodbye, waved at Simon and Jace, and then made their way back to Maia's apartment.

Simon, similarly, said he should get going. He wanted to get back to the Hotel to let Raphael know about what had happened. After sharing a brief kiss with Jace and telling Alec goodbye, he was out of sight, leaving just Alec and Jace.

They began the walk back to the Institute, both of them hoping not to run into any more of those creatures.

"What the hell do you think those things were?" Jace asked, his voice quiet.

Alec shook his head. "Wish I knew. Did you...did you notice that our weapons didn't work on them? Like, my bow and arrows didn't do shit, and neither did your seraph blade."

Jace grimaced. "I noticed. And some of the moves they did, it...it was oddly reminiscent of how a Shadowhunter would fight."

Alec took a moment to think this over. What if they _had_ been Shadowhunters? At least at one point in their lives? But what did that have to do with the Downworlder blood sacrifices that had been made...

"We'll have to tell Mom about this," Alec said, his voice less than enthusiastic, "And file a report."

Jace groaned and sent Alec a look. "You think that's why Izzy went to Maia's? To get out of paperwork?"

Alec thought of the way Izzy had been holding onto Maia, the look in both of their eyes. He then chuckled and shook his head.

"Amongst other things, I'm sure."

Jace thought for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing. Alec smiled too, and then they delved into silence.

A part of Alec wanted to tell Jace about Magnus, partially because he really wanted to talk about him, but also because he hated keeping things from Jace. It just felt... _wrong_.

"Jace," Alec said abruptly, and Jace quickly looked over at him, "I need to...talk to you. It's about Magnus."

"Yeah, what happened, man? You were so happy, I could feel it through our bond, and then it just...stopped."

Alec pursed his lips. He was more than well aware of just how suddenly things had ended between himself and Magnus. It still hurt so badly, and it didn't seem like it would be getting better any time soon.

"Magnus," Alec started, "Magnus is a warlock."

Jace stopped walking and Alec watched as his face just... _fell_.

Alec continued to talk, more anxious this time. "I didn't realize he was a warlock when we made the deal with the Clave. I don't know what's going to happen with the Clave now, but Magnus and I thought it would be best if we stopped seeing each other. Well. We didn't have much of a choice."

"Alec," Jace breathed, running a hand through his hair, "I'm _sorry_ —"

" _No_ , you don't have to be—"

"You thought you and Magnus were going to be together for a long time, and I ruined that—"

"You _didn't_ , Jace, listen to me," Alec said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder so he would look him in the eyes. "This wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, except maybe the Clave's for making the stupid deal in the first place."

Jace shook his head. "This isn't right. What if we asked the Clave to switch places, so I'd be the one—"

"Jace," Alec scolded. "Don't even say that. You and Simon are in love, I'm not going to come in the way of that."

"Well, weren't you and Magnus?" Jace asked. "And when Shadowhunters fall in love, it's for life, so I can't imagine what..."

Alec's cheeks flushed. "I'm not — we didn't — we're not in love. We only dated for, what, a month and a couple of weeks? You can't fall in love in that short amount of a time."

They continued their walk to the Institute.

"I don't really think there's a timespan on how long it takes for two people to fall in love. It just sort of...happens," Jace mused.

Alec rid the thought from his mind almost immediately. The thought of love was a slippery slope, one he didn't want to go down for fear of hurting himself even further.

"Have you and Simon told each other?" Alec asked. He figured asking Jace about Simon was the best way to distract him from Alec's own love life.

Jace smiled softly. "When I got back from the City of Bones, yeah. There's something about almost losing the one you care about that really makes you reevaluate what they mean to you, you know?"

Alec had a feeling he did. He smiled, weakly, and said, "Yeah, I think I do."

***

Magnus had no idea what to expect when Raphael called a meeting to the Hotel Dumort on the basis of Simon saying something about a fight with zombies.

Things had been so strange recently that Magnus didn't even question it. Zombies...why not?

Magnus walked into the Hotel and was quietly pleased to see that Meliorn and Kaelie had returned for the meeting. Sure, their blatant honesty could be a bit... _much_ , at times, but Magnus was still relieved that nothing had happened to either of them.

"So what is this about zombies?" Magnus asked as he sat down, taking a sip of his coffee.

Simon's eyes lit up. "It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and apparently Alec, Jace, and Izzy hadn't either..."

Magnus stopped with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. "You were with Alec?" He asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah. A triple date." Magnus almost crushed the styrofoam cup in his hand, but Simon kept talking. "Except for Alec! He didn't have a date. He just went along with me and Jace and Maia and Izzy."

Magnus went back to drinking his coffee. He _hadn't_ been jealous. He was the High Warlock and had been alive for over three hundred years, he didn't _get_ jealous. Just the thought of Alec going out on a date with someone else after such a short amount of time was...upsetting.

Luckily, Simon had simply misspoken.

"I didn't leave the safety of the Seelie realm to hear about you and your Shadowhunters' love lives," Meliorn said, his eyes narrowing at Simon, "So can we please get to the descriptions of these — what did you call them?"

"Zombies," Raphael supplied.

"Yes, zombies."

Simon shook his head. "They weren't really zombies. They were tall, muscular, pale. They looked like they used to be men, but their skin was sunken in and bruised. There were three of them. I encantoed mine, but the others...they weren't hurt by the weapons made from Shadowhunters."

Magnus raised an eyebrow at that. "Explain," he said.

"Like, Alec's arrows didn't hurt them, and neither did Jace's seraph blade. If anything, their weapons just made them mad."

"That's...unusual," Ragnor murmured.

"Could they talk? Did they tell you anything about where they came from?" Luke asked.

Simon shook his head once again. "No. Mostly they just grunted a lot."

"What ended up happening to the, um, Shadowhunters?" Magnus asked, trying to keep his voice nonchalant.

"Izzy went home with me," Maia piped up. "I'm not sure about Jace and Alec."

"I talked to Jace. He made it home safely," Simon said.

Magnus rubbed his fingers together. That was all fine and well, but he hadn't been asking for them.

"And Alec?" He wondered softly.

Simon pursed his lips. "I'm not sure. I mean, I'm sure he's fine—"

"You don't _know_?" Magnus asked.

"I'm sorry, no—"

Magnus spared a look Ragnor's way. His friend was looking back at him, his face concerned.

"Magnus, if he said he thinks Alec is fine, then I'm sure he's alright," Ragnor whispered to him.

 _Thinking_ Alec was alright was not the same as Alec actually _being_ alright. Magnus didn't want to dwell on it, and the meeting was still going on, but...

"I'll be back," Magnus said, before abruptly standing up and walking off to a back room in the hotel.

He hadn't wanted to make a scene, especially not in front of most of the Downworld leaders, but that was exactly what he had done. He just...he had to make sure Alec was okay. That was his primary concern right now, not embarrassing himself in front of his friends and acquaintances.

Once he had made it to a back room, he stretched out on one of the plush couches and dialed Alec's number.

He didn't have to wait for long: Alec answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Alec, hey, I...I heard about your encounter with those zombie-things. Simon told me he wasn't sure you made it back safely, so I wanted to check in on you."

"I'm fine," Alec said brusquely.

Magnus' eyebrows furrowed. He hadn't ever heard Alec talk like that, and especially not to him.

"You don't sound fine," Magnus admitted softly, "Are you sure everything's alright?"

There was silence on Alec's line of the phone, and Magnus drummed his fingers on his knee, anxiously awaiting his response.

"I don't think we should talk to each other anymore," Alec said. His voice was so quiet that Magnus had to strain to hear him, but when he did, his mouth dropped open.

"And why is that, exactly?" Magnus asked, not bothering to keep the venom out of his voice.

"It...it hurts, okay? Hearing your voice. I'm trying to move on, and then I hear your voice, and it's like. I'm right back to where I was before."

Magnus took a deep breath. He wanted to be angry, and he was, a little, but. Mostly he was just hurt.

"You think it doesn't hurt for me?" He asked. "Because it does. A lot."

"Then why did you call?"

Okay, forget only being a little bit angry. Magnus wanted to throw his phone across the room.

"Because I wanted to make sure you were okay! I didn't realize me worrying about you wasn't allowed."

Alec let out a sigh. "That's not what I _said_ , I just, I don't _want_  you to worry about me. I wish you didn't."

Magnus felt like his heart broke all over again at those words. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then mustered all the strength he had to say, "Well, don't worry about it. I won't be calling anymore. And I also won't be worrying about whether your life is safe or not, since that's what you want."

"Magnus—" Alec started, but Magnus had already hung up. He stared at his blank phone for a while, unseeingly, before tossing it across the couch.

He knew Alec was just trying to protect himself and move on, and yet...maybe Magnus didn't want him to move on. Maybe Magnus wanted Alec to hold out hope that one day they would be together again, because that was exactly what Magnus himself was doing.

Magnus put his head in his hands. He'd been stupid, wanting Alec to come back to him. It wasn't going to happen. Their fate had been sealed before either of them had even realized what was happening.

He pocketed his phone and then made his way back to the meeting, ignoring Ragnor's (once again) worried look. Magnus would tell him later what had happened. Over cocktails, or, no, over whiskey. Whiskey sounded heavenly right now.

"He okay?" Ragnor whispered to him.

Magnus shrugged. "Fine," he said, and dropped the subject.

***

Alec hadn't wanted to tell Magnus to stop talking to him. It was the last thing he had wanted, but he _had_ to get over Magnus. If they weren't ever going to be together again, then there was no reason to hold out hope that they would be, and his conversation with Jace had put a lot of things into perspective.

The only problem? It didn't work. Alec still thought about Magnus all the time; if he was safe, what he was doing. The only difference now was that Magnus hated him.

Maybe that was for the best. There were so many things happening in the Shadow World at the moment, and Alec couldn't handle any distractions.

More and more Shadowhunters had been witnessing the creatures that Alec, his siblings, and their significant others had seen. They began to be called "the Forsaken", because it was found out by Izzy in her lab that the creatures possessed all four types of Downworlder blood, as well as Shadowhunter blood.

It was now known that the objective in draining the Downworlders' blood was, in fact, to go after the Shadowhunters. Alec wanted to be smug that he had called it, but he couldn't be; not when his people were getting killed left and right.

All the Institutes stayed on high alert. It seemed like everyone was just waiting for something to happen, for someone to step forward, and that was exactly what happened with Valentine Morgernstern.

He was an ex-Clave member who had been sent to prison in Idris for various infractions of the law. Apparently he had looked up to the Circle, and it showed in his cruel outlook on the Downworlders (different from the ignorant pacivity that most Shadowhunters had towards them). He had escaped from prison years ago, which the Clave had somehow forgot to mention.

Alec had watched the video multiple times. Valentine, in Idris, proclaiming war on the Clave, who he believed had wronged him. He was surrounded by Forsaken and demons as he told everyone that he had created the Forsaken to be a new breed of Shadowhunter, who would wipe out and replace the old breed.

Following _that_ announcement, Alec and his family had been quick to pack up and head to Idris. It was mandatory; all able Shadowhunter families had to aid the Clave in a time of war.

Simon and Maia had come to the Institute to tell Jace and Izzy goodbye, and Alec had watched the scene with a sinking heart. At least he didn't have to say goodbye to Magnus.

Somehow, the thought wasn't very comforting.

***

The Downworld had varying opinions on what was currently happening in the Shadow World. On the one hand the Shadowhunters hadn't ever done anything for the Downworlders, which made some Downworlders pleased to see that what they'd had coming for a long time was finally happening to them. On the other, it wasn't like this "Valentine Morgenstern" and his new breed of Shadowhunters were any better. If anything, they were worse.

Luke quickly ushered the heads of the Downworld to the Jade Wolf the night after Valentine had made his war declaration. Everyone knew they had to act fast in making their decision.

Currently, Magnus was sat with his favorite Maia-made cocktail in hand, both Catarina and Ragnor by his sides. He listened as Luke began to speak.

"I know that the Shadowhunters have been less than helpful to us, and that they're painfully ignorant, and they have a superiority complex the size of Texas, and—"

"This could take all day. We get it, the Shadowhunters suck," Raphael interrupted, gesturing for Luke to get to the point.

Luke leveled Raphael with a stony glare before continuing. "Anyway, yes, the Shadowhunters _suck_ , as Raphael put it, but I spoke it over with my pack and we're willing to fight against Valentine and aid the Shadowhunters, if they are accepting of our help."

"That's biased bullshit," Meliorn spoke up, "You only agreed to that because Maia is dating a Shadowhunter."

Kaelie nodded in agreement while Maia's mouth gaped in indignation.

"I am only one person in a pack," Maia said, her voice harsh, "You really think I have that much authority? I don't. The entire pack came to that conclusion, not just me."

"How did you reach your conclusion?" Ragnor asked.

Luke shrugged. "It was fairly easy. I used to know Valentine."

There were some gasps around the table. Magnus, however, had already known this.

"He was an awful, awful man, and he _hated_ the Downworld. It came as no surprise to me that he was the one who was behind the murders of the Downworlders."

"Would he be worse than the current Shadowhunters are now?" Catarina asked.

Luke nodded. "Without a doubt in my mind."

"Plus this 'new breed' of Shadowhunters will follow him mindlessly. That makes him even more dangerous," Maia said.

Magnus had been taking everyone's thoughts into consideration. Finally, he spoke, saying, "While I agree that we should fight against Valentine, I also don't think we should do it without any kind of benefits afterwards. We deserve compensation for our efforts."

"What were you thinking? Money? Because I have plenty of that, as do most immortal Downworlders," Lily said, her voice bored.

"No," Magnus murmured, "I was thinking more along the lines of an end to the neutrality between us."

There were some whisperings, some shaking of heads, but Magnus raised a hand to get everyone to be silent.

"Listen, I know everyone at this table is not too fond of Shadowhunters as a whole, even if a couple of us are romantically involved with some," Magnus said, sparing a glance at Simon and Maia, "But we have to think of the benefits of ending this neutrality."

"Which are?" Raphael asked.

"I was getting there," Magnus responded, "First off, whether you believe it or not, one of the Shadowhunters' main objectives used to be to look after the Downworld and protect it."

Ragnor nodded. "I can attest to this."

"If that had still been the case today then maybe the lives of the innocent Downworlders killed by Valentine wouldn't have been lost. Plus we could lose even more lives, if Valentine keeps using more of our blood for this new species of his," Magnus said with a shudder.

Lily and Raphael shared a look. It was clear they were thinking about it.

"What happens if they don't accept our offer? We're forced to live with Valentine?" Lily asked.

Magnus shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted, "I feel like we have to prioritize here. Even if the Shadowhunters don't accept our offer, fighting against Valentine would be in our best interest. We just have to act like we're not going to do it until they accept our terms."

"Lily, Simon, and I are in," Raphael said begrudgingly, " _If_ they accept our terms. If not, then we're back out again."

"Same with me and Kaelie," Meliorn said, "At least, we'll ask the Queen and then get back to you with what she says."

Magnus nodded, diverting his gaze to Luke. "Would you want to go to Idris with me tomorrow? To discuss our terms with the Clave?"

"Absolutely," Luke said, "If that's alright with everyone else?"

Everyone around the table nodded. It was clear that Luke and Magnus would be the best choices since they were the only ones who could be firm in their stances without being openly hostile to the Shadowhunters.

"Great. Luke, meet me at my loft at nine tomorrow morning and I'll portal us to Idris. As for the rest of you, Luke and I will let you know what happens," Magnus said, and with parting words of safety and good health, the meeting was adjourned.

***

Alec had never fought in a battle like this before. He had killed countless amounts of demons and even fought with other Shadowhunters, but he had never experienced actual fighting while in Idris, surrounded by his fellow Shadowhunters.

It was...terrible.

For one, Alec felt like he had to keep a constant eye on Jace and Izzy, which more times than not resulted in himself getting injured. Secondly, Alec felt helpless fighting this fight. There didn't seem to be a point. All of the Shadowhunters' weapons were rendered useless and they were miserably outnumbered. Valentine had continued to portal demons in from the demon realm to fight alongside the Forsaken, so their numbers had been quick to overtake the Shadowhunters'.

Alec could handle the demons, but the Forsaken were another story. They required an extensive amount of physical combat to be defeated since weapons didn't work on them. Sure, Alec was highly trained in physical combat and was probably one of the best Shadowhunters there was, fighting-wise (he was right there next to Jace), but it was still _exhausting_. It seemed like the flow of Forsaken and demons was never-ending and there just wasn't _enough_ of the good guys.

Izzy ended up ushering Alec over to a safe house that Maryse had found a spot for them in after a full day of nonstop fighting had passed. It didn't seem to matter: there were more Forsaken, more demons, and a countless amount of Shadowhunters had already lost their lives.

Alec had almost gotten sick as he had passed multiple lifeless bodies on his way over to the safe house. Seeing death always made him wonder why it had happened to other people and not to himself.

"I can't believe you, Alec," Izzy was saying, and Alec blinked, coming back from his zone. He saw that they had made it to the safe house and Izzy had sat him down on a sick bed.

"What did I do?" Alec asked blearily.

Izzy shook her head. "You're all banged up. It's like you don't even care what happens to you."

"If a few cuts and bruises is the price I have to pay for you and Jace to be safe, then so be it," Alec murmured.

"My point exactly," Izzy said, sounding less than pleased.

She washed out one of the cuts on Alec's arms and then wrapped it in a gauze, Alec wincing all the while at the sting of it.

He had quite a few cuts and scratches that still needed to be tended to, so he had a feeling he would be in here with Izzy for a while. He figured he should at least pass the time with some conversation.

"How was Maia when you told her you had to leave?" Alec asked quietly.

Izzy was silent for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, uncharacteristically not meeting Alec's eyes. "I don't know. Upset? How else would you expect her to be?"

Alec shook his head. "I wouldn't know. Hopefully optimistic, maybe?"

"This _is_ Maia we're talking about," Izzy said with a snort, "If anything that would be more along the lines of Jace and Simon."

"Do you...do you have the feeling that this whole war and all this fighting is just...pointless?" Alec asked, keeping his voice low so no one else would overhear. "I feel like there's no way we could possibly win."

Izzy leveled him with a sober look. "Hey, it's only our first day of fighting. Don't be so quick to give up hope."

Alec nodded. He supposed she had a point. As she fixed him up, he dozed in and out of consciousness several times, the stress and physical exertion from the day catching up with him.

"Get some rest, _hermano_. I'll be back in the morning to check on you," Izzy whispered, pressing a kiss to his forehead before leaving the room.

Alec moved so his back was lying on the bed instead of sitting. He was tired, but his mind was going at a mile per minute. He wondered where Jace was, if he was still fighting. Wondered if Izzy was getting some rest or if she had gone back into the fray. He hoped it wasn't the latter.

He hadn't seen his parents since he had arrived to Idris, so he wondered about them too. Since Maryse had been the one to find them the safe house, Alec had to assume they were okay.

And lastly, he wondered about Magnus. News had to've reached the Downworld by now that the Shadowhunters were at war. Alec wondered what Magnus thought of it all. Did he even care? He thought back on how many words Simon and Jace had murmured between them, foreheads pressed together, and how long Maia and Izzy had held onto each other, whispering their goodbyes. Would that have been Alec and Magnus had they not broken up?

He told himself he was being foolish. There was no use running over 'what if's in his mind, not at a time like this. Maybe Magnus didn't even care that Alec's was now risking his life every second he was fighting in this war. After all, Alec had told him not to worry about him anymore.

 _That_ memory caused Alec to squeeze his eyes shut in pain. Why had he told him that? To get over him? That hadn't done much good, because here he was, still thinking about him. Almost constantly.

He opened his eyes back up, and almost as soon as he did, he saw someone walk into the room, going around to check on the sick beds.

A chill went down Alec's spine at who it was: Victor. It felt like a cruel joke that Alec had just been thinking of Magnus, and now Victor was here.

Maybe if Alec closed his eyes, or covered himself in blankets, Victor wouldn't notice—

"Alec Lightwood. You _have_ looked better."

Damn it.

Alec sat up in his bed. So much for getting any rest.

"Injuries do tend to happen when you're fighting in a war," he said, not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

Victor walked over to him, considering him all the way. Something about his gaze made Alec feel like he was a prey and Victor was the predator. It was...highly disturbing.

"It's been just about a month since you last swore on the soul sword. Did you know that?" Victor asked.

Alec swallowed. This might have just been the most worried he had been since he'd arrived in Idris.

"I didn't, actually," Alec said, "Seeing as how we're, you know, _in a war_."

"Well, now is as good a time as any, I suppose. Guards? Could you escort me and Mr. Lightwood to the courthouse?"

Alec's mouth opened, and then closed, and then opened again. He had thought that the war would buy him some time, but he should have known better than to underestimate Victor.

"Are you kidding me?" Alec exclaimed, eyeing the guards wearily as they walked inside the room. They were... _huge_. "This can't wait until _after_ we're done fighting?"

Victor shook his head. "You made a promise to me and the entire Clave. You have to follow up on it, or else—"

"Okay," Alec said, not wanting to hear the 'or else' that Victor had in mind. "I'll go."

He followed Victor out of the safe house, both of the guards surrounding them. He wondered why they were needed and what Victor would do to him once he figured out Alec had unintentionally broken their deal.

He couldn't think about that for too long. He was already nervous, and that train of thought wasn't doing much to help.

The courthouse seemed bigger without his siblings beside him. The soul sword also seemed more menacing now that he had something to hide, but Alec supposed that made sense.

Victor stood on one side of the sword while Alec stood on the other. He was looking down at him, and when Alec looked up, Victor gestured for him to get on with it.

Alec went to reach for the sword, hesitated, and then placed both of his hands back by his sides. "I...I have a confession to make."

"Go on," Victor told him.

"At the time we made the deal, I was...I was seeing a warlock, Magnus. I had no idea what he was until, well, until _after_ the deal. We were romantically and, um, sexually involved."

Victor's lips pulled down into a frown. "I see."

"If — if you were to ask me the same questions, I wouldn't honestly be able to give you the same answers."

Victor was silent for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. "That's not a problem. I'll just ask you different questions. How does that sound?"

Alec nodded, letting out a breath of relief. That sounded good to him. He then placed his hands on the soul sword and braced himself for Victor's questions.

"Is it true you had no idea Magnus was a warlock while we were making our deal?"

"Yes."

"What happened once you found out?"

Alec thought back to that day, frowning in remembrance of all the heartbreaking feelings it had brought about.

"We broke up the next day."

"When did you last communicate with Magnus?"

Alec was silent for a moment as he did the math in his head. "Two weeks."

"And the last time you saw him?"

"Three weeks."

Victor hummed. "So a week passed before you communicated with him again. Why is that?"

"There was — a warlock, who had been drained of blood. I thought it might have been him, so I called him. Just to make sure it wasn't."

"Hm. That makes it sound like you still have feelings for him. Do you?"

Alec spluttered. "That was — that was two weeks ago."

"You're not answering my question, Mr. Lightwood," Victor said sternly.

Alec tried to form the word no, but it got stuck in his throat. He couldn't say it, because it wasn't true.

"Yes. I do."

Victor frowned at him. "Alright. One more question, then." He looked Alec straight in the eyes. "Do you still have hope that you and Magnus will get back together again, despite your promises to the Clave?"

Alec knew this was the make-or-break question. He _had_ to say no, or he would be forced to find out what Victor had meant when he had said 'or else'.

He tried to convince himself that he didn't want to get back together with Magnus. It wouldn't be the same, he told himself. Their time together had been nothing but a whirlwind romance that had ended up sizzling and burning out. Plus, Shadowhunters and Downworlders were _so_ different. Would Alec and Magnus even be able to get along now that they knew what the other was?

(They were weak excuses and Alec knew it.)

He tried once again to say the word no, but he realized with growing anxiety that his mouth wouldn't form the word. _Fuck_.

He told himself that Magnus hated him, that he wouldn't ever take him back, and tried to say the word again, but it didn't work. It didn't _work_.

Alec had tried so hard so many times to say that one word that his eyes had teared up from his efforts. He felt like he couldn't breathe, and that he wouldn't be able to until he answered the question truthfully.

As he gasped out the answer to his question, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

It had been a yes.

Victor was looking at him pitifully as Alec composed himself. He rapidly removed his hands from the sword and wiped the wetness off his cheek, trying to focus on getting his breathing back in order. The weight of the sword was off of his shoulders, but he still felt a sort of heaviness inside of him.

"That was all I needed to hear. Guards? Arrest Alec Lightwood for openly disobeying the Clave's orders."

Alec gaped as the guards began to walk over to him. "What?!" He exclaimed, slowly backing away from them and from Victor. "You can't do this!"

"I can and I will," Victor told him, "In fact, I already have."

The two guards seized Alec by the shoulders, holding him back. Alec tried his best to shy out of their grasp, but they were _strong_. He knew it was no use.

"What about my family? I have to protect them, fight for them, I can't just sit in a prison cell—"

"You should have thought about that before falling in love with a Downworlder," Victor admonished, his voice harsh.

Alec tried to protest those words, to say that he _wasn't_ in love with Magnus, but it felt like his hands were back on the soul sword again.

Alec loved him. He loved him like he hadn't ever loved anyone else.

The thought caused his breath to hitch in his throat. He loved him, and he wouldn't ever get to see him again.

"Oh, and speaking of your family, your siblings will no longer be able to see their Downworlder significant others. I'll inform them of this in the morning."

Alec's realization quickly formed into anger, and he tried with a renewed sense of strength to free himself from the guards. " _No_ , you can't do that, you promised—"

"You also promised, Alec, but clearly you did not follow your own words. Therefore, I will not follow mine. That's how the world works."

Alec felt more anger than he had ever felt before. He figured that he was already going to spend a lifetime in prison, so he didn't have any qualms about shouting at Victor.

"You planned this!" He accused. "You knew from the start that I was seeing a warlock and that my siblings would have to break up with their loved ones. This so-called "deal" was a scam from the start!"

Victor crossed his arms over his chest. If anything, he looked smug. "You can't prove anything."

Alec opened his mouth to respond, to maybe yell some more, but it was then that he was being dragged out of the courthouse by the guards and into the crisp night air.

He knew he was on his way to the Idris prison. He just hoped that his family would be okay, and that they wouldn't hate him for destroying their relationships.

He hoped the Clave wouldn't go after Magnus either.

***

Magnus arrived to Idris bright and early the next morning with Luke by his side. He had wanted to get there as soon as possible, seeing as how there wasn't any time to be wasted.

He cast a protection spell over himself and Luke as they walked through a war zone to the main Clave building. Magnus couldn't know for sure, but it looked like the Shadowhunters were being slaughtered. There was still a good number of them fighting, but there was also a good number that were currently residing lifeless on the ground.

That thought brought Alexander to his mind. Was he alright? What would Magnus do if he were to see Alec, on the ground, not moving...

He stopped walking for a second. His breath had hitched in his throat and he felt like he couldn't breathe, couldn't move at just the mere thought.

"Magnus?" Luke asked him. "You alright?"

Magnus let out a breath. There was no use upsetting himself over Alec. It wasn't like he knew for sure that something terrible had happened to him, but it was just like Magnus to assume the worst.

"Sorry," he apologized to Luke, "It's all a bit...much. We can keep going."

Luke nodded and they continued their walk over to the Clave building. Once they reached it, Magnus unlocked the door with magic, and saw that there were Shadowhunters bustling all around.

He had no idea how he was supposed to find Victor or any other important members of the Clave.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to search for long. Victor was right in the middle of the room, a blonde-haired woman next to him, looking over some papers. Magnus gestured for Luke to follow him and walked right up to him.

"Aldertree," he said.

Victor looked up at him, and the pure shock that overtook his face was immediately evident. "Magnus," he responded in the same tone, "What exactly are you doing here? I don't remember Downworlders being able to stop by Idris whenever they so pleased. Especially not in times of war."

"That's what Luke and I wanted to talk to you about. It's important, so I'd prefer if we talked somewhere a bit more...private," Magnus murmured, glancing pointedly at all the Shadowhunters surrounding them.

Victor looked less than enthusiastic, but he eventually nodded, leading Magnus and Luke to his office, followed by the blonde woman.

Victor sat down behind his desk once they reached his office and gestured for Magnus and Luke to take a seat as well.

"Please, speak. I'm all ears," Victor said.

Somehow, even when he was being serious, he managed to sound sarcastic.

"Here's the thing," Luke started, "We know that you guys need all the help you can get. Your weapons are useless against the Forsaken, so that's where us Downworlders could come in and help."

Victor opened his mouth to respond, but Magnus held up his hand to silence him.

"That's not all. If us Downworlders are going to help you out, we expect just compensation in return."

"What would you like? Diamonds? Rubies? Emeralds?" Victor asked.

Magnus shook his head. "Not that kind of compensation."

Victor's brows creased. "What, then?"

"We want for the neutrality to end between Shadowhunters and Downworlders," Luke said.

"It's been going on for too long," Magnus agreed. "And for what? Some prejudices that were formed two hundred years ago?"

Victor shook his head. "Absolutely not. If that's the price we have to pay then we can fight this war on our own."

"Victor—" the blonde spoke up for the first time.

 _"Lydia_ ," Victor responded, his voice firm. "There's no debating this. It's a ludicrous proposition."

"Is it, though?" Lydia, the blonde, asked. "Our people are getting wiped out like flies. And these two had a point when they said the Downworlders wouldn't have the same weapons disadvantage as us. If ending an ancient neutrality that none of us in this room were even alive for—"

Magnus coughed. Lydia looked over at him and corrected herself.

"Okay, that only one of us was alive for, is what it takes to save our people, then I say so be it."

"That's not up for you to decide," Victor said.

"No, but I can absolutely take this matter to the rest of the Clave and have them vote on it." Lydia directed her gaze back over to Magnus and Luke. "I'll be back. This shouldn't take long."

She then walked out of the room.

Victor looked over at Magnus and Luke in disinterest. However, his eyes lingered for a moment on Magnus, and his lips slowly moved up into a smirk.

"You know, I learned a lot from your little Shadowhunter friend last night. It's crazy how much someone can talk when the soul sword is involved."

Magnus narrowed his eyes. At the mere mention of Alec his heart had sped up in his chest. "What are you talking about?" He murmured.

"Well, first off, I found out about the relationship you were in while Alec promised not to be in a relationship with a Downworlder—"

"He didn't—"

"Know? Yes, I am aware. He told me that as well. Don't worry, I made sure that he was taken care of," Victor said, and stood up from his chair. "If you'll excuse me. I have more important matters at hand."

Magnus stood up as well. "What do you mean, 'taken care of'? Where is he?"

Victor didn't respond except for a smile and a wave, and then he was outside of the room. Magnus made to go after him but was held back by a hand to his chest. He looked over and saw that Luke had stood up as well, preventing him from going after Victor.

"He's trying to get to you. I'm sure Alec — is that his name?"

Magnus nodded numbly.

"I'm sure he's fine."

Magnus sat back down, his heart in his throat. He doubted that Victor would have just made that stuff up. Alec probably really had confessed more than he'd wanted to because of the soul sword, but what had Victor done to him afterwards? He couldn't be gone...the Clave didn't kill fellow Shadowhunters, right? Or did they?

"I wish I knew for sure," Magnus mumbled, and then shook his head, "There's more important things to be worried about right now. I don't know why I'm so concerned."

Luke shrugged. "You care about him. It's understandable to be worried about his wellbeing."

Despite the fact that Alec didn't want him to be.

Another twenty or so minutes passed before Lydia walked back into the room. Magnus was glad to see her: he had been spending his time doing nothing but worrying.

Both Magnus and Luke stood up to face her. Magnus tried to delve into what the response had been by the look on her face, but she remained straight-faced.

"I'm sorry, that took longer than I expected," she apologized. "After much debating, we finally reached a decision. The Clave has decided to abide by your request."

Magnus and Luke shared shocked looks amongst each other.

"However, there are some terms and conditions."

Damn it. Magnus should have known that the Clave would never make things that easy.

"What are they?" Luke asked.

"Well, there's really only one," Lydia corrected, "And it's that our neutrality will come to an end only if the Downworlders help us win the war. If we are to lose the war, the neutrality will still be in effect."

Magnus took a moment to think those words over. It was kind of a shitty condition. If the war was lost, the Downworlders would have to lose men _and_ be forced to live under Valentine without any form of protection from the Shadowhunters, since the neutrality would still be in place.

Still, Magnus thought the Shadowhunters had a good shot at winning with the Downworlders by their sides. The risk seemed to be worth it. He looked over at Luke once more and saw that he was already nodding.

Magnus held out his hand to Lydia, as did Luke, and they both shook her hands.

"You have yourself a deal," Magnus said. "I'll alert the Downworlders, and we should be back to Idris by noon today."

Lydia smiled at them both. "Sounds good to me. I'll see you two then."

She walked back out of the room, and Magnus made a portal for himself and Luke back to New York City.

He had a lot of people to spread the news to.

***

While many Downworlders had not been pleased by the Clave's 'condition', most of them were just surprised that the Clave had agreed in the first place.

When Magnus arrived back in Idris, this time with his fellow warlocks and Downworlders, he could see exactly how badly the Shadowhunters needed their help. He had portaled everyone right in the middle of the fighting, and it seemed like Magnus could see more Forsaken and demons than he could Shadowhunters.

The Downworlders were quick to split up, though some fought together in pairs, such as Luke and Magnus. Before Luke had shifted into his wolf form, he had told Magnus that he would be more than happy to rip some Forsaken into shreds, if Magnus could just hold them back using his magic.

Magnus had agreed, and he was glad that he had, because the method worked beautifully. Magnus didn't use up too much magic doing this and neither of them had to worry about the Forsaken recovering once Luke was finished with them.

They were getting ready to get started on their fifth Forsaken of the day, magic activated and teeth bared, when a blond Shadowhunter made his way over to Magnus. He looked frantic, with a rather nasty cut on his forehead.

"Are you Magnus Bane?" He asked, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath from abruptly running over to him.

Magnus spared a look Luke's way, but saw that he was too busy with the Forsaken to notice the Shadowhunter.

"Yes, I am. Can I help you?"

The Shadowhunter let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god. I'm Jace Wayland, but I also go by Jace Lightwood."

With only those two words, everything clicked into place. This was Alec's younger brother.

"You're Alec's brother," Magnus said, just to make sure, and Jace nodded. "Is he — is he okay? I talked to Victor and he said that he was taken care of. I wasn't sure what that meant..."

Jace's lips pulled down into a frown. "My brother was arrested last night and sent to prison here in Idris without so much as a trial or a jury."

All the worry Magnus had been feeling over Alec's life suddenly flowed out of him. Alec was alive. He hadn't died in battle, or been 'taken care of' in the way Magnus had assumed. Sure, prison was bad, but they could get him out of that. Death? Not so much.

"What can I do to help?" Magnus asked.

A Shax demon came charging towards Jace before he could answer, and he quickly lodged his seraph blade into the creature's back. He then looked back to Magnus.

"Think we could talk some place a bit safer?" He questioned pointedly.

Magnus blew out a breath. "That might be for the best."

He found Dot and got her to assist Luke before going off with Jace. Once they had made it to a more secure part of the city, Jace began to talk.

"There's no way I could take on the guards all by myself. There's usually two or three, and I'm only one person. But...I thought that if I had a warlock on my side, there'd be better odds, and that you might like to help since you and my brother used to care for one another."

 _Used to_. Magnus could have laughed at the words. Obviously he still cared about Alec, even if Alec didn't care for him back.

"Do you have an Invisibility rune?" Magnus asked. When Jace nodded, he continued. "Draw that once we get to the prison. I'll distract the guards while you get the keys from them. Sound good?"

"Yea, that sounds good," Jace agreed as they started the walk to the prison, "Thank you. For helping me. I was so worried about Alec when I heard the news—"

"So was I," Magnus said with a small, sad laugh.

Jace looked over at him with something akin to surprise. He then smiled slightly. "You know, when Alec was with you, he was the happiest I'd ever felt him. We're Parabatai, so I could feel it through our bond."

Magnus' heart fluttered in his chest. He wasn't exactly sure why Jace was telling him this.

"He made me happy, too. Happier than I've been in...centuries."

He watched as Jace's smile turned into a frown. "I'm sorry, about what happened. But...if it makes you feel any better, he still cares about you. _A lot_."

Should Magnus have been glad to hear it? He supposed he was, in a way, but mostly he was just reminded of how much he wanted Alec, and how much Alec apparently wanted him back.

He wondered what would happen once the neutrality was broken. Would Shadowhunters and Downworlders be able to date?

Magnus quickly shook the thought from his mind. Thinking like that was a dangerous path that Magnus didn't want to tread on.

Once they made it to the prison, they both stopped, standing for a moment to take it all in. Magnus was aware of the consequences if their plan went wrong. They could end up in prison right alongside Alec, or, in Magnus' case, he could be sent to death. Magnus knew the Clave wouldn't hesitate to kill a Downworlder, especially one who had been active in bringing about an end to the neutrality.

Still, it seemed worth it. None of the consequences seemed to matter if Magnus could see Alec again...

"You should probably activate that rune now," Magnus told Jace, who looked like he had been wrapped up in his own thoughts.

Jace nodded, got out his stele, and drew the rune onto his forearm. Then he was gone.

"Stay behind me and don't go after the keys until I signal you to, okay?"

There was silence.

"Jace?" Magnus asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was nodding," said Jace's voice from somewhere behind him, "Don't worry, I'll do that."

Magnus huffed out a quiet laugh and then finished making his way to the prison. He opened up the doors, lingering for a bit so Jace could slip inside as well, and was almost immediately met by two guards.

"What are you doing here?" One of them asked him in a harsh voice.

Magnus purposely looked around the prison. There wasn't much to see, except a staircase that apparently led to the prison cells. The lighting in the room was terrible.

"Ohhh, this isn't a bathroom," Magnus said, putting a hand to his chest as he fake-laughed. "You know us warlocks, we're _terrible_ with directions."

The guards had looked confused and somewhat disinterested as Magnus had spoken, but once he confessed to being a warlock, he knew he had their full attentions. He gestured behind him with two fingers for Jace to go ahead and take the keys from one of the guards' belts.

"You're a warlock?" The other guard asked. "I know you're apparently helping us out, but you're still not allowed to be down here. You're going to have to come with us."

Magnus hummed, watching from the corner of his eye as the keys began to move in midair.

"See, that's not going to work for me. I'm afraid that someone who is very dear to me was placed down here last night, wrongfully so, and I'm not leaving until I get him back."

The guards looked at each other. "You're talking about Alec Lightwood, aren't you?" One of them asked.

Magnus smiled brightly. "How'd you know?" He asked.

"We were told by Victor Aldertree to be on watch for a warlock asking to see him, said that it wasn't to be permitted. I'm sorry, but you're definitely going to have to come with us."

"I'm sorry too, but I'm not going to let anything stand in my way of him."

The guards began to close the space between themselves and Magnus, so Magnus hurriedly threw up a stand-still spell, freezing them in place. He had been planning on using a magical chokehold until they both passed out, but they had been surprisingly not as ignorant as Magnus had expected. He wouldn't have felt right harming them.

However, the spell had a time limit to it. He and Jace had fifteen to twenty minutes to get Alec the hell out of here before the spell wore off.

Magnus didn't see the keys anymore, so he assumed Jace had already made his way downstairs to find his brother. Magnus followed after him, his heart in his throat at the fact that he was getting ready to see Alec again.

It had only been about three weeks since Magnus had saw him last, but it felt like centuries. He just hoped Alec was as glad to see Magnus as Magnus was to see him.

***

Alec had given up hope on trying to yell for help. The cells were so far down in the ground that no one could hear him.

Once he had truly given up, Alec had slid down the wall of his cell, resting his head against the cool, hard concrete. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

However, trying to fall asleep had been a mistake. He hadn't known that the prison brought out Shadowhunters' worst fears while they slept, but he had quickly found that out by dreaming of both Izzy and Jace coming down to rescue him, only to be killed by Valentine. He knew, logically, the dream didn't make any sense, but he had still woken up gasping, tears in his eyes.

He hadn't tried to sleep after that.

Alec wasn't sure how long he had been down here when he heard footsteps walking down the long hallway, passing the prison cells. He opened his eyes and stood up, staring in the direction that the footsteps were coming from. For some reason, Alec had been placed in a cell faraway from the other prisoners, so if someone was down here, they had to be down here for Alec.

He tried his hardest to spot someone, but there was no one to be seen.

Maybe it was Valentine or a Forsaken, come to put him out of his misery.

Okay, realistically that made about as much sense as the dream had.

"Alec," a voice said, and Alec's eyes went wide.

"Who's there?" He asked shakily.

He heard a curse, and then Jace was standing there, right in front of his cell.

Alec grabbed onto the metal bars, taking in Jace's appearance. Had Alec fallen asleep again? Was he going to have to watch Jace be yet again brutally murdered right in front of him?

"Are you real?" Alec whispered.

Jace's eyebrows crinkled. "Bro, _of course_ I'm real." He jangled a pair of golden keys in his hands. "I've come to break you out."

As Jace inserted a key into the lock, Alec backed away, watching in amazement as the door swung open. He was quick to exit the cell, practically trembling with how glad he was to be out of there. He kept wondering when he would open his eyes and wake up.

"How did — how did you take out the guards all by yourself?" Alec asked Jace, not even try to hide the awe from his face.

"I wasn't by myself, in fact—"

"Most of that was me," said another a voice.

Alec quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice and his mouth dropped open at who it was.

" _Magnus_ ," Alec breathed.

Magnus smiled slightly. He looked...unsure. "Hello, Alexander."

Alec's eyes raked up and down Magnus' form, just taking him in. He was dressed in a navy blue button up, covered by a black, suede, double breasted coat, black pants, and black fingerless hand gloves. His hair had fiery, blood-red streaks in it and his eyes were covered in charcoal black.

He looked like he was ready for battle.

Before another second could be wasted, Alec threw himself at Magnus, wrapping him up in a strong hug. He heard Magnus' breath hitch before he was hugging him back just as tight.

Alec buried his head in Magnus' neck. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again," he choked out.

Magnus pulled away for a second, their faces close enough that they could feel each other's breath. Then he reached out, holding Alec's cheek in his hand. Alec immediately leaned into the touch, his eyes slipping shut. He felt like all of his troubles and worries had gone away from just that one touch alone.

"I thought the same," Magnus whispered, and Alec opened his eyes to look at him. "Victor made it sound like you had...like you had died."

"I'm here," Alec responded immediately, "And you're...you're here. I can't believe you're really here."

Magnus smiled at him, his thumb brushing over the skin of Alec's cheek. "I missed you," he admitted, his voice soft.

"I missed you too," Alec echoed, not missing a moment, "I'm sorry for how awful I was to you. I was trying to get over my feelings for you, but I. It's not like it worked."

Magnus raised a curious eyebrow and Alec took a deep breath.

"Magnus, I—"

"Guys, I hate to ruin the moment, but I'm afraid we have a little problem on our hands here," Jace said.

Alec's shoulders sagged as Magnus stepped away from him, looking behind him. Alec did the same and felt his eyes widen when he was met with the sight of an entire pack of ravener demons making their way down the prison's halls.

"How the hell did they get down here?" Alec hissed.

"I'm guessing they sensed Shadowhunter blood," Jace said, his lips turning down into a frown. "Alec, where's your weapon?"

Alec cursed. "I don't have it. I left it back at the safe house, and it would have been confiscated anyways..."

Magnus squeezed Alec's hand for a second and Alec turned to look at him. "Stay behind me, okay? I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Alec felt his heart pick up pace at the words, but he shook his head. "I don't want to feel like a liability."

"Then consider it me making things even between us," Magnus said, a smirk forming on his lips.

Alec smiled too, ducking his head as he remembered saving Magnus' life from another pack of ravener demons. Jace went to stand next to Magnus and Alec stood behind them, hating the feeling of being helpless but knowing that he didn't have a choice.

***

Fighting the ravener demons hadn't taken long, but it had used up a lot of Magnus' magic. Alec could also see that Jace had overexerted himself as well.

"Let's go back to the safe house," Alec suggested, "You both can get some rest and I can pick up my weapons."

"I'm fine," Jace said, and Alec sent him a dirty look.

"You're clearly not. You're coming with me and Magnus. Hopefully Izzy will be there and she can mend that gash on your head," Alec said, his eyes raking up and down the wound worriedly.

"Izzy," Magnus repeated, "Younger sister, right?"

Alec smiled over at him. "Sure is. She's going to be so excited to meet you. Well, if she's there. I hope she is."

There seemed to be double the amount of Shadowhunters at the safe house since Alec had last been there. It made his stomach drop to see how many of his people had been injured, and to think of how many more had been killed.

His thoughts were interrupted by a girl running over to him and wrapping him up in a big hug. He didn't even have to look to know that it was Izzy.

He hugged her back, just as glad to see her as she was to see him.

"Jace told me what happened. I was so worried," she murmured, her voice muffled by Alec's chest.

Alec ran a hand through her hair. "It's alright. I'm here," he reassured her, "Izzy, there's someone I want you to meet."

Izzy moved out of his arms, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before Alec tilted his head towards Magnus. She looked over at him, and Alec could've swore he saw her eyes actually go starry.

"Izzy, this is Magnus. Magnus, Izzy."

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you!" Izzy exclaimed, holding her hand out for Magnus to shake.

Magnus, however, went a step further, placing a light kiss to her hand. "The pleasure's all mine," he told her.

Izzy giggled at him and looked over at Alec, her expression suddenly deathly serious. "I love him," she whispered, in a 'if you do anything else to mess this up I will end you' sort of way, and then smiled back at Magnus.

"I was actually hoping you could take a look at Jace?" Alec asked her. "We were attacked by a pack of ravener demons, and he'd already had a gash on his forehead."

Izzy took one look at Jace and clucked her tongue.

"I'm _fine_ ," Jace said, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

"If your head wasn't injured I'd smack you upside it," Izzy told him sternly, "You are _not_ fine. Come with me."

She pinched his ear and dragged him by it, Jace's "ow, ow, ow's" audible until they rounded a corner out of the room.

Alec looked back at Magnus now that it was just the two of them and saw that he was laughing.

"She's amazing," he told Alec, "But I didn't expect anything less from what you told me about her."

"Do you want to...I can show you where I'm staying. So you can rest," Alec suggested.

Magnus nodded and followed behind Alec as he began to walk. He was suddenly overwhelmingly happy that Maryse had found this place early enough that she had been able to get Alec his own room. _Not_ that Alec wanted to pull anything, both he and Magnus were worn thin and this was hardly an appropriate time or place, but. He just...wanted to be alone with Magnus. They hadn't truly been alone together since they'd said their goodbyes and had their last kiss.

Alec opened the door to his bedroom and held it for Magnus to go inside before walking in after him. He lightly shut the door behind him and watched as Magnus sat down on Alec's bed, humming delightedly as he did so.

"Oh, this is heavenly. I don't know why I expected Shadowhunter beds to be stiff and uncomfortable," Magnus said.

Alec breathed out a laugh and walked over to him, hesitating once he was right in front of him.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked quietly.

Magnus pursed his lips as he thought about it. "I used to...I had heard stories, long ago, of warlocks being able to gain their magic back faster by latching onto Shadowhunter energy. I'm not sure if it's true."

"How would I be able to give it to you?"

"The energy could be passed in any way that the Shadowhunter and the warlock were connected." Magnus then shook his head, diverting his gaze down to the floor. "That sounded dirty. I'm pretty sure just doing as much as holding hands should do the trick."

Alec looked down at where Magnus' hand was resting on the bed and took a step closer, slipping his hand into Magnus' own. His eyes never left Magnus' face as his eyes widened slightly and his breath hitched.

"Is it working?" Alec asked, even though he thought he could feel it: a slight tug in his veins as he transferred his energy to Magnus.

Magnus nodded, his lips moving into a small smile. "Yea, it absolutely is. I'm not sure how I never noticed this before. Maybe you have to be willing to give your energy to me?"

"I'm not sure," Alec whispered.

"Well, whatever it might be, thank you," Magnus muttered, "I appreciate you doing this for me."

Alec wanted to say he would do anything for Magnus, but he (luckily) caught himself before he could. _God_ , he was embarrassing, but Magnus was right there for the first time in so long, and Alec...Alec loved him. This was the first time they had been together since Alec had realized that.

"Magnus," he breathed out, and was surprised to hear how heavy the emotion was in his own voice. "If something happens to either of us—"

"Hey," Magnus interrupted sharply, "Don't talk like that. We're going to be fine."

"Maybe, but...maybe not," Alec said, no matter how much it pained him. "And if something _does_ happen, I need to know that I said it. That I...told you this."

Magnus reached up with his free hand, cupping Alec's cheek for the second time that day, and Alec held onto that hand as well, wanting to hold onto Magnus as much as possible.

"I'm all ears," Magnus told him softly.

"When — when Victor told me that I was going to spend the rest of my life in prison, I thought I'd never see you again. And it...it made me realize something, something important." Alec let out a shaky breath. "Magnus, I...I love you. Like I've never loved anyone else in my life."

Magnus' eyes went wide at the confession, his lips slightly parted in shock. They turned into a small smile as he pulled Alec closer, their lips just a breath away from each other.

"I love you, too, Alexander," he whispered, and then he was leaning up and locking their lips together.

The angle was immediately awkward, so Alec moved to sit down next to Magnus, never breaking the kiss. With the better angle Magnus was able to deepen the kiss, his tongue slipping into Alec's mouth and Alec shivering in his arms.

God, how he'd _missed this_ , the feel of Magnus' lips pulling at his own, his hands moving to Alec's shoulders to pull him closer, their chests pressing together as the space between their bodies closed.

They only broke the kiss once they absolutely had to take a breath, but their eyes remained locked.

"This is probably a bad idea," Alec whispered, "I'm technically a criminal now."

Magnus wiggled his eyebrows. "That's kinda hot," he said lowly.

Alec huffed out a laugh and smacked Magnus teasingly in the chest, Magnus giggling to himself all the while.

"You mentioned that if we won the war, the neutrality between Shadowhunters and Downworlders would end. Would that...include them being able to date each other, or?" Alec asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of his own voice. He sounded pathetically enthusiastic, but he wasn't just thinking of his own relationship. He also had Jace and Izzy's to think about.

"I'm not sure. I would assume so, but with the Clave it's hard to tell."

Alec nodded. Magnus had a point there. "If we survive this—"

" _When_."

Alec rolled his eyes. " _When_ we survive this, I'll most likely still have a trial against me. I might have to go back to prison."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Magnus protested.

"The Clave thinks I lied to them. Plus, you know, there's the whole breaking out of prison thing."

Magnus yawned and sleepily patted Alec on the chest. "We'll deal with that when it comes our way." He then toed off his shoes and laid back on the bed, letting out a pleased moan. "What are these things _made_ out of? Angel wings?"

Alec snorted. "Pretty sure that would be illegal," he said, and then leaned down to press a quick kiss to Magnus' lips.

Well, what he intended to be a quick kiss, but then Magnus was pulling him closer and rolling them around so his body was on top of Alec's, pressing him into the sheets.

Alec let out a breath as Magnus' lips moved from his mouth, to his cheek, and then to his jaw, resulting in feather-light kisses that had Alec giggling softly.

"You should sleep," he told Magnus, but threw his head back when Magnus' lips started moving down his neck. "Mm, I'm — I'm serious."

"I haven't seen you in weeks, Alexander. I have _needs_."

Alec snorted. "And those _needs_ can be met after we win this stupid war."

"Not if you go to prison," Magnus said, obviously trying to keep his tone lighthearted, but when Alec looked up at him, he wasn't meeting his eyes.

"You could always break me out again," Alec teased, though he then sobered at the genuinely upset look Magnus gave him. "Look, Magnus, I don't...I can't promise that I won't end up in jail, but I don't think I will. The Clave will be mad when they find out Victor arrested me without a trial and without any other reasoning except my feelings for you. That shouldn't be enough to send me to jail for the rest of my life."

Magnus moved so he was no longer on top of Alec, instead lying down next to him.

"I'll go to your trial. If you have one," he murmured, and when Alec nodded, he leaned in to press another lingering kiss to Alec's lips.

Alec wasn't sure how long they kissed like that, just slow and lazy and not going anywhere, but it seemed like awhile. Eventually Alec pulled away, repeating that Magnus should get some sleep.

"Will you stay with me?" Magnus whispered.

"Of course."

Magnus moved to his side and rested his head on Alec's shoulder, his arms wrapping snugly around his waist. Alec rested his head against Magnus' own and listened as his breath evened out almost instantly in sleep. The fact that Alec himself hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours combined with Magnus' warm body and the softness of the bed had his own eyes slipping shut, and within only a few seconds, he was asleep.

***

There was something kind of exciting about fighting with Alec by his side. Magnus wasn't sure what it was: whether it was that he always had someone by his side, someone who loved him, looking after him, or the fact that Magnus could watch after Alec at the same time.

Plus, it was clear that Alec was quite competitive. When things got boring, he'd make a game out of who could kill the most demons and Forsaken between them. Magnus clearly had the advantage with the Forsaken, but Alec, being a Shadowhunter, was very skilled at killing demons.

It was kind of hot, too, seeing Alec dressed all in black, his biceps making themselves _very_ well known as he drew his bow, shooting demon after demon.

Magnus could tell that Alec felt the same way about him, too. He had been dealing with a particularly nasty Forsaken that just wouldn't die, so Magnus had used his magic to put him in a chokehold, slit his throat, and then kicked him backwards.

He had heard a thump only a few seconds afterwards and looked behind himself, seeing that Alec was on his back with a ravener demon on his chest. Magnus had cursed and quickly disposed of the demon, offering Alec his hand to help him up.

"What the hell happened?" Magnus asked him.

Alec still looked a bit dazed. "Um," he'd said, scratching at his neck. "You really, uh, showed that Forsaken who was boss."

And Magnus had laughed, throwing his head back before pulling Alec into a brief kiss.

"Keep it in your pants, Shadowhunter. We're in the middle of a _war_ ," he'd told Alec, purposely making his voice come off as scandalized.

Alec had smiled and rolled his eyes, and they had then gone back to fighting, side by side.

***

To almost everyone's surprise, the war ended just about as quickly as it had started. A Clave member named Hodge Starkweather had been revealed to be an informant for Valentine, and it hadn't taken much to get him to talk. He revealed where Valentine was hiding and a group of Shadowhunters had gone after him, not hesitating to bring him into custody.

After that the constant stream of Forsaken and demons had stopped, and it had only been a matter of time before the last remaining ones had been killed.

Alec had been thrilled: of course he had. He and Magnus were still alive, and both Jace and Izzy were okay, too.

The two of them had immediately run over to him once the war had been won and they'd all crushed each other in a strong hug, both Jace and Alec spinning Izzy around as she laughed cheerfully.

Alec had looked over Magnus' way, seeing that he was surrounded by three people: Raphael, the warlock Alec had met at the Downworlder meeting (Ragnor?), and a woman whom Alec had never met before. He assumed she was a warlock, as well.

But that feeling of joy hadn't lasted for long. Alec had been so consumed in his siblings' happiness and his own that he hadn't noticed Victor walking over to him until he was right there next to him, Lydia by his side.

"Alec Lightwood. What a surprise to see you out here," Victor said.

Alec pursed his lips. "You put me in prison without a trial or a jury. That's illegal."

"So I'm assuming a fellow Clave member was the one to release you?" He asked, and when Alec didn't respond, he nodded. "No? I didn't think so. You're going to have come with us."

Alec was surprised that they hadn't brought any guards with them, but then Lydia was bounding his wrists together in handcuffs locked by runes, and he wasn't as surprised anymore.

"Alec—" Izzy started, moving to go after him but being held back by Jace.

"Iz, it's alright. I'm gonna be fine," he assured her.

He looked over at Magnus and saw that he was looking right back at him, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. Alec offered a small smile and Magnus tried to smile back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

As Alec was led through the courtyard, he felt multiple pairs of eyes on him, as well as some whisperings. He was uncomfortably reminded of just how much Idris loved to gossip, and knew he would be all they could talk about for weeks if not months.

Once he got to the courthouse, he saw his mother, and she immediately rushed over to him.

"Alec, _what_ did you do?" She asked, her voice terrified.

It was nice to see her alive and well, too.

"I'm afraid it's a rather long story, Mrs. Lightwood," Victor told her, "Alec will be having a trial here in Idris tomorrow. You'll be able to find out a little more about what _your son_ has been up to then."

Maryse just stared after them as they walked away, her mouth agape. She looked as if she didn't know whether to be furious or concerned.

One of the only good things about having a trial tomorrow was that Alec got to be placed in a holding cell and not the hellhole he had been placed in by Victor before.

"We'll be seeing each other again tomorrow, Mr. Lightwood," Victor told him, and Alec gave him the nastiest look he could muster before he walked out of the room.

He then sat down on his bench. He was going to be here for a while.

***

Alec's trial was at eight o'clock. Magnus had no idea why it was so early in the morning, but he didn't mind. It wasn't like he had slept much, anyway.

Catarina had spent the night at his loft the night before the trial, knowing without say that he most likely didn't want to be alone. Magnus had gotten her to help him pick out his suit for the trial (a black pinstripe suit with a long-sleeved white button up and magenta tie, as opposed to the velvet suit he had been thinking about. Catarina had told him that he would probably draw too much attention to himself in the latter, since Shadowhunters and the Clave all dressed so drably, and Magnus hadn't been able to argue with her on that.) and they had spent the rest of the night chatting.

Before Magnus could portal to Idris the next morning, Catarina stopped him, taking both of his hands in hers.

"You look _great_ ," she told him earnestly, "Alec won't know what hit him."

Magnus nodded, his lips turning up into a small smile. "Maybe, if everything goes well, you could meet him. And Ragnor, officially this time."

"I'd _love_ that. I've heard enough about him," Catarina teased, and Magnus rolled his eyes before blowing her a kiss and stepping through the portal.

It was amazing how much... _cleaning up_ had taken place since Magnus had last been to Idris. The streets were pretty much all the way clean, save for some blood and black ichor.

Magnus made his way over to the courthouse, took a deep breath, and then opened up the double doors. His stomach swelled up with nerves when he saw the courthouse was already filled with Shadowhunters, just about all of whom turned their heads to look at him. Magnus held his head high and clenched his jaw as he made his way down the aisle. The only problem was that he didn't exactly know where to sit.

Luckily for him, a certain brunette Shadowhunter hurriedly got up from her seat and walked over to Magnus: Isabelle Lightwood. She was dressed in a long, sleeveless red bodycon dress, and her dark hair was done up in an intricate ponytail.

"Magnus," she greeted, her smile bright despite the clear worry on her face. "I'm so glad you could make it, do you...would you like to sit with Jace and I?"

"I'd love that," Magnus responded, and Izzy led him over to where her and her brother sitting, towards the front of the room. Jace greeted him once he sat down, but the worry on his face was just as evident as Izzy's.

Magnus didn't take that as a good sign. Jace and Izzy clearly knew the Clave better than he did, and if they were worried that Alec would be found guilty...

Not much time passed before the double doors were opening again, this time with two Silent Brothers, the Inquisitor, and, of course, Alec. He'd been able to get changed for his trial and was dressed in a light gray suit, his hands restrained in handcuffs as the Silent Brothers led him down the aisle.

As he passed Magnus' row, his head turned to the side and his eyes widened at the sight of Magnus. Magnus raised his hand in a slight wave and Alec smiled at him, looking visibly relieved, before focusing back in front of him.

His hands were uncuffed so he could place them on the soul sword as the inquisitor took her seat at the front of the room.

"Do you swear on your life to tell the truth and nothing but the truth during this trial?" She asked Alec.

"Yes, I do," Alec responded.

He was then led to sit to the right of the Inquisitor, facing all of the Shadowhunters in the room. Magnus' eyes raked over his face. He wondered if he was nervous. He had to be, right? There was a good chance he would be spending the rest of his life in jail...

The thought had his stomach turning once again. He could not _wait_ for this entire thing to be over with.

"Let's start with the very generous offer the Clave made for you and your siblings. Do you personally feel as if you broke that deal?" The Inquisitor asked.

Alec shook his head. "Not intentionally. I had no idea I was with a Downworlder at the time that I was swearing off all Downworlders."

"How could you not know? Did he not see your runes? And you his mark?"

"I often glamoured my runes, as he did with his mark. We both thought the other was a mundane until..."

"Until?"

Alec's eyes trailed downwards as he clearly remembered the time. "It was only about a week after the deal was made. He was surrounded by ravener demons, so I saw his magic, and he saw my runes."

"How long after this did you continue to see each other?"

Alec shook his head. "We didn't. We broke up the next day."

The Inquisitor's lips turned down into a frown. "So if you were no longer involved, then why did Victor place you in prison?"

"Because..." Alec trailed off, his eyes meeting Magnus' in the crowd. Magnus offered him a small, reassuring smile. "Because the feelings were still there. I admitted to wanting us to get back together, despite the Clave's wishes."

There was some murmuring around the room. Alec's head dropped.

"And would you have?"

"Would I have...?" Alec asked.

"Continued your relationship with the Downworlder, despite the Clave's wishes?"

So that's what Magnus was now: "The Downworlder".

"No," Alec said, which was followed by some gasps around the room, "I knew that I had made a deal, and I wouldn't have let personal feelings get in the way of that. Not if it meant risking my siblings' own relationships."

Magnus saw both Izzy and Jace smile out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't surprised by Alec's confession: he knew that Alec tended to put family above himself, and he would never be able to be in a relationship that jeopardized his siblings' happiness.

"Did Victor ask you the same question I just did?"

Alec shook his head. "No."

"Then why were you placed in prison following the start of the war?" The Inquisitor asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

Alec shrugged. "Personal animosity, maybe? I'm still not entirely sure. I never meant to break our deal, and I thought Victor knew that."

"So you don't believe you broke our deal, but there's still the matter of you breaking out of jail."

Magnus saw Jace grimace and quickly divert his eyes to his lap. Magnus kept his own eyes on Alec, not wanting to look away for a moment, just in case...

"I had to help my family. I'm the first born, its always been my job to look after them, and if something had happened to them while I was just sitting around..."

"You weren't just _sitting around_. You were incarcerated," the Inquisitor corrected, her voice stern. "Did you believe your reasoning for escaping was more logical than any of the other countless escapees we've had in the past?"

Alec gaped. "I didn't even have a trial and jury. I was wrongly placed in jail, and you know it!"

"I do not know anything, Mr. Lightwood, and I would prefer it if you did not make assumptions on my behalf."

The room had gone eerily silent. Magnus looked over at Jace and Izzy and saw that their smiles were gone. They looked pale as sheets.

"What's happening?" Magnus whispered to them.

"You don't talk back to the Inquisitor," Izzy told him.

"It's a death sentence," Jace added.

Magnus looked back at the front of the room and saw that the Inquisitor and Alec were still arguing, but he couldn't hear them. Not anymore. He'd thought the trial had been going well, but just like that, the tables had turned, and now it wasn't looking so great...

"I believe I've conducted enough information. The jury will be out with the verdict momentarily," the Inquisitor announced, before walking over to that said jury.

Magnus tried to imagine sitting here while Alec was declared guilty, tried to imagine what he would do...but he couldn't. He couldn't so much as think about sitting here while the man he loved was sentenced to a life in prison.

He knew that Alec had been glad to see him, but Magnus couldn't stay here for another second. He felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest from the anxiety.

"I'm sorry, I have — go," he apologized to Jace and Izzy, shaking both of their hands. "If you get to talk to Alec be...beforehand, tell him I'm sorry, and that I love him."

The two Lightwoods looked confused, but Magnus didn't know how to explain to them that it felt like his heart was breaking all over again, so instead he rose from his seat and made his way back down the aisle.

He could practically feel Alec's eyes on him as he did so. Magnus wanted to mouth an apology to him, anything, but he didn't have the strength.

Instead, he opened the double doors and made his way out of the courthouse.

***

As soon as Magnus had started to walk away, Alec had stood up, wanting more than anything to go after him. Of course, the Inquisitor had quickly scolded him to sit back down, and that had been the end of that fantasy.

As the jury deliberated, Alec wondered what had made Magnus leave. Was he alright? What if Alec never saw him and never properly got to tell him goodbye?

Alec closed his eyes. He hoped the jury was quick in their deliberations.

Much to Alec's surprise, the jury actually _didn't_ take too long. It was only a few minutes later that the Inquisitor was walking back to the front of the room, her face grave.

Was that a bad sign? Would she have shown some happiness if Alec was found not guilty? Probably not. She seemed like a rather emotionless type of person.

"The jury finds Alexander Lightwood to be... _not_ guilty," she announced.

Alec's mouth dropped open and his eyes immediately found his siblings', who he saw were smiling and hugging each other.

"The ruling was that he never intentionally broke his deal, and that he does not deserve to live a life in prison for simply trying to help his family."

"So...I can be with Magnus? And my siblings are allowed to pursue their relationships again?"

The Inquisitor hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Now that the neutrality is over, the three of you can be with...whoever you please."

Alec smiled, unable to contain his happiness. The Inquisitor announced that the case was over and Alec immediately hurried over to his siblings. The room was buzzing with conversation, so it was rather hard to hear them, but Alec tried his best.

"I was so worried about you," Izzy exclaimed, wrapping Alec up in a hug. Jace soon joined in, the three of them taking in the fact that they wouldn't have to say goodbye to each other any time soon.

"I was worried, too. Do you...do you happen to have any idea where Magnus went?" Alec asked.

Jace and Izzy shared a look before shaking their heads.

"He said that he was sorry," Jace said.

"Oh, and that he loved you," Izzy added, a small smile on her face at the words.

Alec nodded, wondering if it would be rude to leave his siblings in the hopes of finding Magnus. Izzy must have seen the conflicted look on his face because she placed a hand on his arm, meeting his eyes.

"Go to him, _hermano_. It's alright. Jace and I understand, right, Jace?"

Jace nodded. "Absolutely. You and Magnus deserve this, after everything you've been through."

Alec smiled and wrapped them both up in another short hug. " _Thank you_ ," he whispered to them, and then all but ran out of the courthouse.

It hadn't actually been that long since Magnus had left the courthouse — that's what gave Alec some hope that he would be able to find him.

"Magnus!" He called out, running down the steps and looking through the courtyard for him. Had he already portalled back to his loft?

God, Alec hoped not. He wanted to see him, and he wanted to see him _now_.

He turned back around to face the courthouse, debating whether or not he should go back inside to tell his siblings that he'd be leaving Idris for Magnus' loft.

Just as he was about to do so, he felt a hand on his arm and quickly spun around, his heart soaring when he saw that it was Magnus. Alec didn't hesitate in pulling him in for a hug, burying his head in his neck.

"I was about to portal home when I heard you call for me," Magnus told him, "What...what are you doing outside of the courthouse?"

Alec pulled away from the hug to look at him, his face breaking out into a grin. "I don't — I was found not guilty. I'm free to go."

Magnus' jaw dropped, his eyes going wide. "But I thought...everyone was making it sound like..."

Alec shook his head. He was smiling was so wide that his face was starting to hurt. "No, I'm free to go. To...be with you."

Magnus smiled too and then he was pulling Alec in for a kiss, his hands going to Alec's cheeks. Alec's arms wrapped around his waist so there was quite literally no space between them, wanting Magnus as close as possible.

They kissed until Shadowhunters began pouring out of the courthouse, sending scandalized looks their way at how intimately the two were connected.

Alec was the one to pull away, laughing quietly in disbelief that he could do this now, he could kiss Magnus whenever he wanted to.

Magnus was touching his bottom lip with his thumb, looking as if he was thinking the exact same thing.

"Let's go home," Magnus suggested, and Alec looked at him, immediately seeing the loaded look in his eyes.

Alec swallowed thickly. "Yeah, let's — let's do. That," he said, very eloquently.

Magnus laughed openly at him and then magicked them up a portal, taking Alec's hand in his before pulling him through it.

***

It wasn't like things were suddenly perfect once the end of the neutrality came to be. There were still a lot of negative feelings between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders, but everyone was at least _trying_ to be better. If a Downworlder needed help, a Shadowhunter was there, and the Downworld hotspots were made open to Shadowhunters.

It was a start, and Magnus much preferred this to being hostilely neutral towards one another.

Things with Alec were...amazing. Magnus didn't know how else to describe them. It was so nice getting to be with him while a war _wasn't_ going on: it was something that Magnus never thought he'd be able to have.

He introduced Alec to Catarina and Ragnor. Alec and Catarina immediately took a liking to one another, though Ragnor was a little more hesitant in accepting Alec.

At least he shook his hand this time.

Magnus also went out on a triple date with Alec's siblings and Maia and Simon. It was a lot of fun, and it was clear to Magnus just how much everyone cared about each other at their table. For some reason Alec had held onto Magnus extra tight that night, and when Magnus had asked about it, Alec had told him that there had been a time he'd gone out with his siblings and their significant others and _hadn't_ had Magnus by his side. Magnus had smiled sadly and kissed Alec a little extra that night, too.

It had been about a month since the war's end when an idea came to Magnus' mind. He told Alec to pack up a suitcase and meet Magnus outside of his loft. Alec had been confused at first (adorably so), but he had ultimately done as Magnus had asked.

"What's this all about?" Alec asked the next morning, eyeing Magnus' own suitcase curiously.

" _Well_ , now that everything has calmed down, I thought we could take a little vacation. If that's okay with you, of course."

Alec's eyes lit up. "Really?" He asked, not even trying to hide his giant smile.

Magnus smiled, too. What could he say? Alec's smile was contagious.

" _Really_. I know you said you always wanted to travel, so."

"Yeah, yes, absolutely," Alec exclaimed, "Where to?"

Magnus winked at him. "That's a secret, Alexander." He used his magic to create a portal for them and then held his hand out for Alec to take. "You ready?"

Alec nodded quickly and placed his hand in Magnus', the two of them walking into the portal.

They arrived inside of a lavishly decorated apartment. Magnus set down his suitcase and looked over at Alec, watching his reaction as his eyes took in the panoramic windows.

"Oh my _God_ ," he murmured and made his way over to the windows. "That's the Tower Bridge. We're...we're in London."

Magnus smiled and walked over next to him, taking in the view of the city from his window. He hadn't been here in _years_ , and the sight of the city never failed to take his breath away.

"That we are," Magnus told him.

Alec tore his gaze away from the city and looked over at Magnus, his eyes starry. "And this is your apartment?"

"Sure is."

"Wow," Alec breathed, "It's beautiful. And the view is...incredible."

Magnus kept his eyes trained on Alec, on the excitement and happiness that was clear as day on his face. It was a beautiful sight, something that Magnus hadn't ever seen quite so openly on Alec's face.

"Mine's not too bad, either," Magnus said.

Alec looked back over to him and laughed when he saw that Magnus was still looking at him. His face then sobered and he took a step closer to Magnus, cupping his cheek in his hand.

"Thank you for this. I can't...I can't believe you remembered," Alec murmured.

Magnus raised an eyebrow. " _Of course_ I remembered. I promised you, didn't I?"

"You did," Alec whispered, before leaning in for a sweet kiss. Magnus tried to deepen it but Alec pulled away, his lips in a smirk. "There's no time for that. We have a _city_ to explore."

He took Magnus' hand in his and then all but ran to the door, Magnus following after him with cheerful laughter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to have Alec visit England, it was his dream ;)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this story! Feel free to leave comments on what you thought and kudos if you liked (they fuel me lol)
> 
> And as always, you can find me on tumblr at iconicbane!

**Author's Note:**

> here's the tumblr post if you enjoyed! :)  
> http://iconicbane.tumblr.com/post/158283340171/secrets-that-you-keep-chapter-½-words


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